Walking a Dagur's Edge Between Peace and War
by Pengping
Summary: Two months ago, the war between Berserk and Berk ended with Dagur's incarceration. One month ago, Alvin faked Dagur's death and says he was killed in an escape attempt. Now Dagur's sister goes looking for trouble - starting with Berk who she believes is responsible for Dagur's imprisonment and later "death." Can Hiccup find a way to keep the peace or will war rule again?
1. Treacherous

**PART 1: A STORM ON THE HORIZON**

 **Chapter 1: Treacherous**

Alvin the Treacherous stood on the edge of Outcast Island, watching the approaching boat as it sailed towards him. Standing to his right was Savage, his second in command. On his left was a teenage Berserker warrior, one of the ones that had stayed with him after Dagur's defeat. The Outcast Chief narrowed his eyes to try and see the sail better, but he couldn't make out if there was a design on it or not.

"Here, sir," the teenage Berserker handed him a spyglass.

Alvin took it and raised it to his eye, focusing it with some trouble. His realized his guess about his visitor's identity was correct. There was a Skrill crest on the sail.

"Berserkers," he muttered.

Alvin saw the young Berserker tense up. He glanced at Savage. "Ready the men and defenses and make all other _preparations_. Best tell the Berserkers they've got kin comin'."

Savage saluted. With a "yes sir," started a brisk run back to the Outcast settlement.

"Merrik," Alvin said.

The Berserker looked his way, a lock of his long blonde bangs covering his eyes. He shook his head to get it out of his face as he replied, "yes sir?"

"Go saddle your dragon," Alvin ordered. "I want you in position when that boat docks. You're one of my best archers."

Merrik hesitated as he looked at the ship coming closer filled with his fellow Berserkers. The arrows in the quiver that was slung over his right shoulder clicked quietly from the movement and his longbow made of dragonbone was in a hand.

"Is there a problem?" Alvin asked.

"No sir," Merrik shook his head.

Briefly, he glanced at the spyglass Alvin had, but the Outcast was looking through it again. Clearly he wasn't going to get it back anytime soon. He saluted instead and started to walk back down the way he came as Alvin watched the boat.

Alvin watched Merrik for a bit and then looked back at the boat. Truthfully, Alvin wasn't that surprised by his visitors. It had been nearly two months since he and Stoick had made peace and Dagur had been brought down. He had gotten his island back and even got to keep the Berserker warriors that Dagur had brought with him. Best of all – he had gotten to keep Dagur.

He looked back to where Merrik was walking. That boy was one of his greatest allies and one of the biggest risks. Merrik was the only Berserker Alvin had ever met who didn't have a temper. The boy simply never got upset and an aura of calm surrounded him. Alvin's wild dragons had picked up on his calm and responded to it, and so Alvin had made Merrik his chief dragon trainer.

In fact, Merrik was the only one on Outcast Island besides Alvin who had a dragon he could ride. His mere presence was often enough to stop arguments and soothe ruffled feathers. The boy had undeniable potential, but he had also hesitated when Alvin had ordered him to get into battle position against the Berserkers.

Because Merrik had been training the Outcast dragons for most of this month, he had learned a lot about them. Clearly, the boy still had loyalty to his Berserker tribe and if he chooses to defect then they would have all of his knowledge. The last thing Alvin wanted was for Berserkers to be on dragonback before his Outcasts were.

Another risk was likely riding on the ship towards him right now. Alvin raised the spyglass to the ship again. It had drawn closer. Something reflected on the ship and he looked to it. The reflection was very bright and he winced before taking another look. Sunlight was reflecting off of an ornate metal shield. There was a Skrill painted on it that mirrored the one on the sail.

Alvin narrowed his eyes. The Berserkers had told him about Kata, Dagur's younger sister. They said that she had her own tamed dragon. Oh, the girl only had a Terrible Terror but she had tamed it as a child with no injuries and no help. Between Kata's natural knack with dragons and Merrik's knowledge there would be a good chance of the Berserkers taming dragons.

The Berserkers had said that Kata had an ornate shield just like the one sitting in the boat leaned up against the mast. He caught a flash of movement and saw a young girl with red hair vanish belowdeck. Alvin frowned and lowered the spyglass. Was that really Kata?

He chuckled to himself and started walking down towards the docks where the boat would pull in. If that was really Kata then this had become much easier. The girl he had just seen was even younger then Hiccup. There wasn't anything to worry about.

Well, nothing to worry about unless they found out the truth about Dagur.

Alvin had been shocked by just how strong of bond there was between Dagur and his Berserkers even after everything Dagur had put them through with the war with Berk and the hunt for Toothless. In order to "help" things along he had faked the death of Dagur the Deranged.

As far as all of the Berserker warriors and the rest of the archipelago knew, Dagur the Deranged had been killed by some of Outcast Island's feral dragons when he had tried to escape one month ago. Without their chief, the Berserkers had indeed become more tractable. Now, Dagur was safely held in an empty wing of dragon pens.

That idiotic trader Johann had come after Dagur's "death" and had spread word across the archipelago of Dagur's demise. In response, some of the other Berserkers had come to bring their armada home. Alvin was not about to lose half of his forces.

What would happen with Dagur's sister about to dock? Dagur had named Kata temporary chief of Berserk while he went to Outcast Island to reclaim the Skrill that had been found frozen and she had remained Chief. With Dagur's "death" she was Chief – but she was also just a little girl. As long as Dagur's survival remained a secret, Alvin should have no trouble shooing her away.

* * *

Merrik walked quietly to the blacksmith where his dragon's saddle was. He didn't care much for the blacksmith, but his saddle had needed repairs. It was a small relief that the forge was empty and he was able to sling his longbow over his left shoulder and pick up his repaired saddle unhindered. Next was the dragon pen.

Outcasts… Merrik couldn't stand being stranded here on Outcast Island with Alvin and he couldn't understand how the other Berserkers could either. He would have thought – hoped – that some of the Berserkers would have left _Alvin_ by now to go home, yet none had.

Not even Captain Vorg, the Berserker who was something of a foster father to Dagur and Kata. Okay, Dagur had been pretty rough on Vorg during the Berk War, but he couldn't understand how Vorg could abandon Kata. Surely, he had thought, at least Vorg and the rest of his crew of the _Wolfwind_ would leave Alvin. He was wrong.

Alvin's orders for Merrik to get "into position" would work in his favor. His position would be above the visitor's in his dragon's saddle. More likely than not Alvin the _Treacherous_ was going to betray Kata and he would be in a perfect position to help his friend.

Merrik's dragon was in the Southern Pens with Alvin's Whispering Death and some of the other semi-tamed dragons. The wild dragons were kept in the East Pens, and the West Pens were the prison. They also had a series of North Pens to be used for whatever was needed, but they were empty right now.

A door in the mountain side opened suddenly and Savage walked out. Merrik blinked in surprise. How had he gotten in front of him? Then he realized that he didn't want to talk to Savage and ducked behind some of the many black rocks. Savage closed the door behind him and locked it before quickly hurrying on his way.

Merrik ducked further out of sight as Savage ran past his hiding place, holding his right arm to his chest as if it had been injured.

"Okay," Merrik muttered, "that was weird."

What was weirder was that this was the entrance to the empty North Pens. He glanced down as he stood and realized that the ground was colored with drops of fresh blood.

Was Savage bleeding? His arm, what happened to it? Merrik narrowed his eyes. This didn't make any sense, the North Pens were supposed to be empty. He looked curiously at the door. Before he had a chance to step towards it a horn sounded, announcing the arrival of the Berserker ship.

Merrik sighed dramatically and reluctantly turned away from the door. He would need to hurry to get his dragon saddled and ready. After all, he did have to keep up the appearance of a good, _loyal_ Outcast for a while longer. Whatever was in the North Pens could probably wait.

* * *

Kata took a breath as one of the crew of the ship she was on gave her back her shield. She nodded at him and slung it over her shoulder much like Hiccup did. Shivering, she rubbed her hands together, glad that she had the foresight to bring her jacket with her. Outcast was far North of Berk and Berk was quite a ways North of Berserk, and it was _cold_!

"Trick," Kata called quietly.

A heap of yellow and red scales that had been sitting on the deck raised its head and turned its red cat eyes towards her. Trick stretched and then flew over to her and landed on her arm like a hawk. Kata smiled as she scratched her Terrible Terror under his chin. He made a purring like noise and walked up her arm to drape around her shoulders just like he always did. The added body heat of the small Stoker-Class dragon helped warm her up.

The Berserker who had handed her shield frowned. "Are you good?"

"I'm alright Arin," Kata sighed.

Arin shook his head. He had grown up with her just like Merrik had and he knew better.

"I'm alright enough," Kata corrected quietly. She looked down and made sure she had a dagger on each thigh nervously. After a moment of fussing and Arin watching her, she rolled her eyes. "I'll deal with it all right, Arin? These goons are the reason Dagur's dead. Knowing Alvin's temperament he was probably torturing him."

Arin sighed but agreed silently. He didn't say it out loud though, for fear it might encourage her. "You sure it was a good idea to come here? Word is Alvin's got a whole pack of trained Whispering Deaths."

"Dagur assigned me as acting Chief before he left," Kata said quietly, "and with him gone, that means that I am Chief. The Berserkers are my responsibility. Having them all on Beserk instead of having half there and the armada on Outcast would help."

She snapped the last sentence.

Arin held his hands in surrender. Wow, she was in a bad mood. Normally, she was more stable than Dagur but ever since her brother's death she had been steadily degrading. Dagur always was more stable when Kata was around him and it seemed that was mutual. With the siblings separated, both of them were getting worse. Now Dagur was dead and without him Kata…

"Once I get the rest of my tribe back together I am going to show Alvin what happens when he messes with my family," Kata clenched a hand into a fist and looked to the growing shape of Outcast Island.

Arin was taken aback by the bloodthirsty note in Kata's voice. "Kata, you know that's not-"

"No," Kata interrupted, "you're right. It's not _all_ Alvin's fault. Berk is the real problem. Stoick let Alvin keep Dagur and it was Hiccup who defeated him. I suppose it's only fair to attack Berk first."

"Kata!" Arin interrupted in exasperation.

Kata looked up from her musing. "Yes?"

"Do you hear yourself?" Arin asked. "You sound like Dagur! Usually, you're the sane one keeping him in check."

"Yes and Dagur's dead!" Kata shouted loudly.

The crew working the ship fell quiet and Kata could see them glance over at her. She looked at the floorboards of the ship, letting the wind tug at her short hair.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly. "I'm just upset. Outcast is as responsible for his death as Berk and now I have to stand before Alvin. He's going to be pleased that Dagur's gone."

"You'll manage Kata," Arin said confidently. "You always do. You'll get our warriors back and we'll recover. We'll find a way to cancel the advantage of dragons that both Berk and Outcast have, and then we'll plan a strike."

The sound of a horn from Outcast Island accented Arin's words and the crew turned their heads to the ever-looming Outcast Island.

"Sounds like that's our cue," Kata said grimly, trying to lighten her words to no avail.

"Yep," Arin sighed, "Kata."

"Hm?" Kata asked and ran her fingers across the throwing daggers she had stashed around her body.

"You know that no matter what, you've got our support," Arin spoke in a serious tone, one Kata wasn't used to hearing from him.

"My little brother's right about that," another crew member called out to her.

Kata glanced over at an older Berserker. Where Merrik and Arin were her age, this one was Dagur's age and one of his closest friends.

"Thanks Willem," she told him.

Willem nodded and went back to helping work the sail.

"Yeah," Kata nodded and tried a smile. It was a little better. She looked back at Arin, her little Terrible Terror on her shoulder chirping. "I wonder about Merrik though, he's on Outcast."

"Yep," Arin gave his trademark mischievous grin suddenly and his eyes brightened dangerously. "And I have to admit, knowing him, I feel a little sorry for Alvin. Merrik's probably pretending to be a loyal lieutenant and waiting for a chance to strike back."

Kata sighed, "I could see him doing that."

Trick nibbled on her hair lightly and she reached up absent-mindedly to scratch him.

Don't worry Dagur, Kata promised silently. I'll take care of the village, and once I'm able, I'll teach Berk and Outcast a lesson they won't soon forget for letting you die.

"By the way Kata," Arin added as the ship pulled up to the rusty metal dock. "Do you have a plan?"

"I'm going to talk the Berserkers into coming home," Kata replied simply as the gangplank was lowered.

"And if that doesn't work?" Arin asked worriedly.

"Then I'll go onto Plan B," Kata assured him.

She didn't elaborate so Arin snipped, "mind telling me what Plan B is?"

"Um," Kata paused as she thought about it. "It's probably best you don't know. With luck I won't have to use it."

Arin narrowed his eyes, but by that point Savage had walked over and Kata had no choice but to walk off the boat to greet him. Savage's presence guaranteed that the conversation would come to an end.

Yeah, Arin thought, she just needs a little luck. Asking for a little luck when you trusted in Loki– the God of Mischief – might not be the best plan.

* * *

 **Like it? This takes place two months after the end of the _Defenders of Berk_ season. It is confirmed canon the Dagur has a younger sister. Dagur says himself in the _Night and the Fury_ that his sister had an ornate shield like Hiccup's. I know now that Heather is Dagur's sister, but I never liked her character and although i'm going back and rewriting the chapter I did not know her true when I started writing this.**

 **Dagur might have been deranged but he and Kata were really close (more information on that forthcoming). Because of her brother's "death" she wants blood and the archipelago is in trouble, especially if she can get her armada back. Yes, she's small, she's thirteen.**


	2. Challenge

Alvin watched as Savage escorted a small girl and a few men up to where he was standing. Gathered around Alvin were most of his warriors and all of the Berserker troops he had gained custody of. He tilted his head up briefly to where Merrik and his dragon were sitting on ledge. Merrik had his longbow in his lap with an arrow knocked.

The girl that walked over to him bravely could only be Kata. Her dragon raised its head slightly and sniffed the air as she approached, and Alvin had had enough experience with dragons to be wary of it. The dragon's hind legs were draped over her left shoulder and its head and forelimbs was on the right shoulder.

Other than the dragon, a shield, and two daggers, she appeared unarmed. The only sort of armor she had was more than a leather vest. It had the Berserker's Skrill crest branded and inked in black onto the leather over her heart. Alvin was prevented from seeing if she had any other weapons from the long-sleeved fur-lined jacket she wore, so it was possible she had more weapons.

Her hair was a few shades lighter red then Dagur's and cut in an extremely short bob. What few bangs she had were tied out of her face with a pale blue ribbon that made her blue eyes look all the darker. The girl was one of the people that had a naturally innocent and trusting face, but there was something about her – about her eyes – that made him wary. This girl had grown up with _Dagur_ as an older brother and survived, so Alvin supposed it would be foolish to underestimate her too much.

Kata stopped walking once she had a few meters away from him and Savage came to stand by Alvin's side. The gathered warriors encircled the two parties. Alvin noticed that most of the Berserkers were near Kata and most of his Outcasts were by him. The tension in the air was nearly palpable.

Kata glanced over to the gathering warriors. Her Berserker's were easy to pick out in their metal armor to the Outcast's bone and shell.

"So," she started. "You lot are still here. Here I was wondering if a storm just blew you off course on your way back home."

Her voice was sharp with accusation and it made the Berserker's cringe. Home… That was a word they hadn't heard much of these past months. In a rush, all of them remembered family or sweethearts that they had left behind on Berserk.

Merrik's dragon let out a chirp, and Kata glanced up. She gave a start when she saw Merrik sitting on the dragon's back.

"What in the…?" She whispered

"Whoa," Arin straightened. "That's a new one."

Willem, standing behind him, nodded in agreement.

Kata looked around, but Merrik was the only dragon rider she saw. Either Merrik was the only rider Alvin had, or he was the only one in plain sight to act as a warning and the rest were hiding and awaiting orders. It was a little hard to judge which was more likely.

Alvin smiled that his plan had been successful. Having Merrik overhead was clearly making Kata think, and it should remind the girl to behave herself. Honestly, she was just as insolent as her brother to come here and think she could take the armada back.

Because of how Alvin was standing, his back was too Merrik so he did not see his dragon rider salute in greeting to his friend Kata. Kata saw it, but kept her expression neutral to keep from giving Merrik away. Alvin clearly thought that Merrik was loyal to him, and she did not want him to know otherwise for she loved the element of surprise. The Berserkers now had dragon rider on their side, and she couldn't think of a better rider then a long-range fighter like Merrik. Having a dragon rider on her side boosted her confidence in what she was doing, inevitably.

"Why are you still here?" Kata demanded her Berserkers, projecting her voice to be heard despite her small size. "Why haven't you come home to your families? You've left us vulnerable to all sorts of attacks, not in the least being the Pirates."

The word Pirates jolted some unpleasant memories the Berserkers had suppressed. The pirates Kata had mentioned had slaughtered many Berserker innocents, not in the least being Kata and Dagur's mother. Worst of all, the last time the pirates had gone on a raiding spree Alvin had been the one providing them with weapons and ships in exchange for a cut of their loot.

"We saw your ships in the bay," Kata continued. "Come home. You are missed by your families."

"Why should they go back?" Alvin interrupted her. "They're plenty welcome here."

Alvin spoke his question quickly, not eager to lose half of his armada. He might have cringed at Kata's mention of the pirates had he been weaker willed, and was willing to admit it was an excellent thing to say on her part. The idea that Alvin might be arming the pirates to attack Berserker _again_ while the Berserker warriors were with him had obviously troubled the Berserkers. Of course, Alvin thought, he was arming them again while the Berserkers were her, but that wasn't the point.

Kata gave him a furious look and her dragon picked up on her fury with a growl. For a tiny Terrible Terror, it sounded pretty deadly and a dragon was technically still a dragon.

"I'm just sayin'," Alvin muttered and stepped back before the dragon shot a fireball at him. "At least I keep my promises to 'hem. I 'ave never lied to them either. Dagur sent them on quite a wild chase and he never did catch that Nightfury. Are you going to do the same girl?"

"I don't ride dragons," Kata said darkly.

That wasn't the real question Kata faced however. The real question was if she was going to waste the Berserkers time, ships, and lives uselessly as Dagr had. She was a girl after all, and she was young and inexperienced.

"Everyone who wants to stay, stay, those of you that want to go back with her head down to your ships," Alvin offered, usurping Kata's leadership.

Kata held her breath, but didn't say anything else as if she were subconsciously submitting to Alvin's authority. It was not the right move to make, but all she was aware was that she was a woman and women did not become Chiefs. Only men did, and she was still Dagur's sister with the same unstable Berserker blood that he had.

"You're just a girl after all," Alvin smirked.

The Berserkers shifted but held their ground. Alvin gave her a smug look and Kata felt her heart sink. All right then, it was on to Plan B. Loki, please let this insane plan work.

"Oh?" Kata stepped forward brazenly towards Alvin and raised her head, "So I'm just a girl? Just a helpless little maiden?"

Alvin blinked, surprised by her sudden agreement. What was she doing?

"I might be a girl, but I can fight," Kata smiled, successfully making herself look more confident then she felt. "Since I need to prove myself, I' suppose I have no choice but to do so."

Kata drew one of her daggers and pointed it at Alvin. "Alvin, I challenge you to a duel. Whoever wins is the greater warrior and worthy of the allegiance of the Berserker Armada."

It was dead silent. Everyone was staring at her. Kata didn't back down. Arin realized that this washer Plan B and couldn't' believe that she was willing to do something so stupid.

Alvin started chuckling quietly and suddenly burst out laughing. The rest of the Outcasts started laughing to, but the Berserkers remained hesitantly quiet. They knew Kata had grown up sparring with Dagur and the older boys. Kata tilted her head at Alvin curiously as she lowered her blade.

"What's the matter Alvin? You don't have the courage to fight a _little girl_?" Kata mocked, "It's a wonder even the Outcasts follow you. You're nothing but a coward!"

Alvin stopped laughing and looked at Kata darkly. Kata's confident persona did not waver, and Willem glanced at Arin as if to try and get conformation that she wasn't serious. Merrik was in such shock over Kata's challenge that when his dragon shifted he nearly dropped his bow.

Alvin stepped forward. "All right girl, pick your champion."

"No champion," Kata shook her head. "I'll fight myself. Are you going to appoint a champion to hide behind?"

Somehow, it got even quieter. Alvin was surprised that the girl had a death wish, but supposed he could oblige her.

"No," Alvin said, "I'll fight meself. What about your pet lizard? Do you need a dragon's help to win a fight?"

Kata realized Alvin was talking about Trick, and she shook her head. "I'm no Berkian."

She tookTrick off her shoulders and held him out to Arin. "Hold onto him for a few minutes, will you Arin?"

Arin took Trick from her arms and took advantage of their close procimity to ask furiously. "Kata, what are you doing?"

"Plan B," Kata explained. "Don't interfere in the match no matter what. If you do, then match will be void."

"Kata," Arin hissed again.

"I said I would bring my people home," Kata promised grimly, "so I will. Besides, I get to kill Alvin."

She smiled briefly as she stepped away from Arin and faced Alvin. Merrik noticed Kata glance up to him slightly, and he raised his bow, signaling he would help her. Kata swiped her hand horizontally through the air by her waist as she drew her daggers, and the movement spoke silently that Merrik was not to interfere. There was nothing for Merrik to do but lower his bow and really hope that she knew what she was doing. For whatever reason, she seemed to have luck when she asked Loki for help, and he really hoped Loki would side with her once again.

Calmly, Kata fell into a fighting stance. Her two small daggers were held reverse grip and horizontally rather than vertically. One was close to her chest and higher, and the other lower and further in front. She shifted her weight to her front leg, a beginner's error. Kata's ornate shield reflected a ray of sunlight, but she left it on her back.

Alvin drew his massive two-handed broadsword as he drew himself to his full height. He had nearly two feet and over a 150 of pure muscle on the girl along with experience.

"No one interferes," he called out. "This shouldn't take long."

"Agreed," Kata smiled.

Alvin was wary of the girl's confidence, but decided she had to be trying to bluff him. The gathered crowd of Berserkers and Outcasts backed up respectfully, giving the two competitors a wide circle to fight in. One of the Berserkers who hadn't been near the front pushed himself to the front of the crowd and looked in terror at the situation that was unfolding. If Kata fought Alvin then she would be killed, Captain Vorg thought fearfully, but the situation was out of his hands.

Alvin and Kata began to circle each other and Alvin laughed as he swung his sword around in an attempt to frighten the girl. Kata barely blinked. When Alvin realized that tactic wouldn't work on Dagur's sister he launched at her, sword singing. Kata stepped forward to meet his blow.

* * *

 **if Hiccup is fifteen in the first two seasons, then the twins should be fourteen. Kata's a little younger then the twins, and would be considered a runt like Hiccup from her small size.**

 **The twins make it clear what the Archipelago thinks of Loki, and Kata's belief in him is very different from others.** **Vikings believed in the Norse pantheon which includes Loki, but unlike in the _Dragon_ series the gods are a little more then names to be invoked. They take a little more active role in the human's affairs. **

**Will Kata win? Or will she lose and need to be rescued by the Berserkers? Will Loki interfere as I just said the gods do from time to time?** **Just how good is she?**


	3. Duel

Alvin gave a battle cry as he swung his sword at Kata. Kata stepped forward, the movement awkward. At the last moment before they connected she moved one of her daggers so the blade was flat on her forearm, so when the edge of the sword hit it slid harmlessly down and away. In an instant, Kata slashed Alvin's sword arm with her other dagger, and a line of red appeared.

Alvin recovered with the ease of experience and swung his sword, expecting a hit. Although his strike was surprisingly fast, Kata spun away and Alvin's sword merely landed a glancing blow against the edge of her shield.

The Berserker girl turned to face him with a confident smile and shook the blade that was now splashed with red. "It looks like I've drawn first blood."

Murmurs rippled across the gathered warriors. Kata had scored the first hit. Vorg allowed himself a small smile, and scolded himself slightly for being so foolish as to forget Kata's level of skill. Perhaps it was Loki's blessing, but she was an unpredictable and effective warrior.

Kata had grown up watching adults fight the odd dragon attack or deal with pirates, and with watching Dagur spar with Willem and his other friends. She had wanted to learn how to fight like her brother, but Oswald expressed early on his disapproval with her plan. It was natural for her to learn how to defend herself, but she was a female and so had no place in the warrior's world. His youngest child was supposed to be a housewife instead of a shield maiden, but Dagur had ignored their father (as he always did) and had helped train Kata himself.

Kata remembered Dagur's advice to her from one of the lessons. _"You don't look very threatening, so use it to your advantage. Make your opening moves clumsy so you will be underestimated and get in a quick strike. Make your enemy wonder just how skilled you are."_

Alvin looked at the injury on his arm and then at her. Even though he had warned himself, he had still used her sloppy opening moves to judge her skill level. He shook off the scratch on his arm and swung again.

Kata crossed her blades into an 'x' in a forward grip, and caught the sword between her blades. Rather than try to stop the blow, she stepped to one side and directed it downward so it gouged into the rocky ground. While Alvin yanked his sword free, Kata jumped in the air with a spin kick, and landed a direct hit on his face with her steel-toe boots. The strike left Alvin's head ringing but he managed to raise his sword.

His quick recovery surprised her, and she parried the sword with her daggers, using his momentum to put some distance between herself and Alvin. Her movement was just a little too slow, and although his sword missed Alvin was still able to smack her across her face. The hit skewed Kata's landing and she fell onto her back, one of her daggers sliding away from her.

"Kata!" Vorg shouted as Alvin swung his sword again.

Kata rolled to her feet and shrugged the shield off her back just in time. Alvin's sword crashed into her shield loudly, and Kata braced herself against him, knowing already this tactic was hopeless. One of the first things she had learned from sparring with Dagur was that she was not as strong as them, and stood no chance at winning in a contest of pure strength.

Kata grimaced as Alvin forced her down to one knee, shield above her head. She needed another plan quickly, and suddenly had an idea. The girl took a breath and relaxed her grip on the shield just enough to allow Alvin to knock it out of her hand and send it skittering away. She fell to the ground and Alvin put a foot on her chest, sword raised to her throat.

"You might have got the first blood girl, but it looks to be that I'll get the last," Alvin smiled.

Vorg's hand went to his sword, and he took a step forward. It didn't matter if the match became invalidated, but his failure was part of the reason why Dagur was dead and Vord did not want to fail his niece as he had failed his nephew.

Kata laughed suddenly at Alvin in a quiet, smug way. "Don't you wish it would be so easy Alvin."

Alvin narrowed his eyes and Kata flicked her empty right hand that had previously held a dagger. One of her throwing blades hidden by the sleeves of the jacket fell into her hand, and with a quick flick of the wrist she threw it upward. Her move forced Alvin to jump back to avoid getting a knife in the throat, and freed Kata as she knew it would.

Continuing with her new battle plan she kicked a leg up to the side of Alvin's knee, and heard something crack from the force. Alvin swung at her, but his sword merely scratched against the ground as Kata rolled out of the way. When she rolled onto her stomach she pushed herself to her feet without breaking the smooth movement, and sheathed her remaining dagger and unbuttoned the one button of her jacket that had been closed.

Her movement when she opened her jacket revealed the throwing knives that lined the inside of the cloth, and the number of them made Alvin stare. She had been hiding weapons in her jacket after all. With a blood-hungry smile she drew two of the many knives and threw both of them at Alvin, drawing another two before her first set even hit him. Alvin jumped to one side to dodge them, and his move made Kata chuckle in delight.

"My brother's not the only one who likes playing with knives." Kata promised Alvin as she raised her next set, smiling just like Dagur tended to do in battle.

Somehow, Alvin managed to hit one with his sword and dodge the other one. With the addition of blades being thrown, the group that had encircled them skittered back to avoid getting hit accidently by Kata. Merrik was just starting to smile, thinking that now that Alvin was on the defense Kata should be able to win. All she needed was a solid hit to Alvin's throat or face and this match would be over. It should have been simple for her, for she, like Dagur, had good aim when it came to throwing knives.

Alvin tried to move in for a strike as Kata threw another two, and he let himself take a hit to one arm to slash at her. Kata attempted to dance from his blade as she had been doing, but her foot slid unexpectedly on the dagger she had lost earlier. She stumbled, but managed to catch herself before she fell. Her save meant she wasn't able to move aside fast enough, and blood splashed on the black ground.

Kata stumbled back from the sudden pain as Alvin's sword slashed her side. Her vest had taken some of the sting, but Kata still cringed and hopped away from a second swing. She was not going to let Alvin beat her and take her people from her, never. As her conviction grew, the feeling of pain dulled and she smiled as if she enjoyed the wound as her Berserker blood spiked.

Two more blades were thrown at Alvin, and he had to dodge them again. One of the blades Savage blocked with the bone that doubled as a club, and he stared at the throwing blade embedded so deep in blade it had gone straight through it to the hilt. He had barely managed to stop the blade before it hit his nose, and his hands started shaking.

Unaware of the panic she was casing the crowd, Kata's foot kicked against the shield that she had dropped earlier. A new plan took place of wasting her knives, and even through her Berserker blood Kata was able to change tactics once more. She jumped behind her shield and kicked it into the air with her foot as Alvin swung.

His swing connected solidly with her shield as Kata caught it, and the strength behind the blow made her arm go partially numb. Working with the force instead of against it, Kata hit the ground and rolled to one side. She could feel her tunic becoming soaked with blood, but did not flinch away.

With one hand she drew another throwing blade, noting that she was running out of blades so this had better work, and held it in the same hand that had her shield. She loosened her grip on the shield and threw both the shield and dagger at Alvin viciously. This was her favorite move, and one of the ones that had taken her the longest to perfect.

Both the shield and dagger were thrown at the same trajectory with the dagger hidden under the shield's shadow. The larger shield hid the blade from sight as both flew horizontally towards Alvin. Alvin couldn't' see the blade, and assumed she had only thrown her shield as he was supposed to think.

 _"_ _Remember Kata,"_ Dagur had told during one of their lessons in the forest. _"You're not strong enough to win with strength, so don't bother trying. Use your small size and speed, and your head. You're as crafty as Loki and as unpredictable, so use that in battle to win."_

Throwing a blade horizontally simply wasn't something that was done under normal circumstances, and Alvin didn't suspect the trap as he lazily swatted the shield aside with his sword. He had noticed she was running out of blades, and thought that if she had gotten this desperate then he was surely about to win. Kata smiled at Alvin's foolish action, for she knew that in order for this move to work she needed a certain measure of luck and cooperation from her target.

Alvin gasped then and leaned forward as her attack struck home. He slowly looked down. His shirt of chainmail did not go all the way to his waist, and Kata's blade had struck hit his exposed red tunic. Kata's throws were viciously strong, and just like with Savage's bone her dagger slipped between Alvin's ribs and sank right to the hilt.

Kata smiled at her luck, and jumped forward to press the attack. Alvin swung her sword to little avail and Kata easily avoided it, and grabbed the blade in his side. She dragged and twisted the blade as she jumped out of the range of Alvin's sword, widening the wound. With the dagger removed from the wound there wasn't anything to staunch the bleeding either, and blood began to drip to the ground at an alarming rate.

"What was that you were saying about drawing final blood Alvin?" Kata asked tauntingly, and lazily tossed the blade into the air.

It spun end over end, and the hilt ended up landing squarely in her palm. She let Alvin approach her, and landed back as he swung, seeing his sword pass within a centimeter of her face. Normally, Alvin would have been able to follow up with another swing but the damage dealt by Kata was catching up and a drop of blood rolled down from his lips. Once the sword finished its arc, Kata darted back in and kicked Alvin's knee again. The damaged joint finally snapped and Alvin collapsed onto one knee.

Dagur's advice came back to her. _"Fight to win Kata. You might not always be able to fight fair, but if you fight to win then you will."_

"And this is for Dagur," Kata hissed as she jumped forward and kicked Alvin's under the chin in an uppercut, snapping his head back.

The great Outcast Chief was thrown onto his back. Silence fell to the arena and Kata straightened her stance, and brushed a few strands of hair out of her face calmly. She returned the throwing blade in her hand to its place inside her jacket, and picked up Alvin's sword. It was heavier than Dagur's axe, but Kata had worked hard to increase her upper arm strength and was able to handle the new burden.

Vorg released his grip on his blade hilt as Kata walked over to Alvin. Things became even quieter, and everyone held their breath to see what Kata was going to do next. Alvin managed to force himself to sit up just as Kata raised his sword to his throat, forcing Alvin to freeze his positon. There was no doubt to Alvin from the glitter of insanity that reflected in the girl's eyes that she was indeed Dagur's sister.

The sword thrust downward, right into the rocky ground next to Alvin's head. Alvin slowly looked at the sword and then back to her."

"You might not have been the one to kill my brother, but knowing you, you likely were torturing him," Kata accuse the chief brazenly. "I'll have to hold off on killing you for now until I can return that favor."

She wrapped her hand around the hilt of her dagger and used it as a pair of brass knuckles to strengthen her blow as she punched Alvin between the eyes. Alvin's head jerked back, and he fell over backwards. He was soundly unconscious.

Kata looked back at the gathered troops and called out loudly. "Berserkers! To your ships! We return home!"

Vorg was the first to smile and repeat her call. "To the ships!"

The call was picked up and repeated by other troops. At last, Kata had gotten her armada back.

Trick jumped off of Arin's shoulder – nearly hitting the boy with his wings – and flew over to Kata. He dropped down and snatched up Kata's lost dagger and then perched on her shoulder. Kata took the dagger from the tiny dragon and held both bloody blades in her hands.

Still holding the blades, she looked over at Savage. He gulped at the sight of them, of the blood that stained her arms up to her elbows in messy streaks, and at the number of throwing blades still tucked inside her jacket. A few drops of blood fell from the daggers to the ground.

"We're leaving now," she informed Savage, "unless you Outcasts wish to stop us?"

Savage shook his head frantically and Kata smiled. Wordlessly she let her grp on her daggers relax and sheathed them before turning and walking towards the other Berserkers that were starting to head to the ship.

Vorg handed Kata her shield as she walked close to him, and with a nod of acceptance she slung it over her shoulder so it rested on her back again. Although she used a shield, she still agreed with Dagur that a true warrior didn't need to hide behind one. Trick squirmed until the shield was comfortably set and then laid down on her shoulders again.

"Kata," Vorg said quietly.

"Not now Captain," Kata replied briskly without a trace of her normal warmth in her voice as she was still in her 'battle mode.'

"Would you come on already?" Kata shouted up to Merrik with an irritated edge to her voice. "We're going to leave without you!"

"Coming Kata," Merrik called down

He replaced his arrow into the quiver that was safely tucked into the saddlebag, and slung his bow over his shoulder as he tapped his dragon on the shoulder to go. His dragon chirped in acknowledgment and flew off its perch. The dragon landed in front of Alvin, and Merrik waved at Kata that it would take a minute as he jumped out of the saddle and walked over to Alvin's limp form. When an Outcast stepped forward, his dragon growled at them and they quickly back up as a crab might. Merrik knelt by Alvin to look for his spyglass Alvin had taken.

Kata looked all of her throwing knives scattered around the battleground and snapped her fingers near Trick to catch his attention. When Trick chirped, Kata ordered "fetch" and pointed to one of her throwing knives. The dragon understood and hopped off of her shoulders to collect the blades.

Merrik ignored the dragon and as he removed his spyglass from Alvin's body with a smile. He looked up at Savage when the man gave a small shout. Trick had grabbed onto his bone to try and retrieve the throwing knife embedded in it, and Savage didn't want to give it up. With a sight at his immaturity, Merrik walked over to Savage and tore throwing blade free.

He offered the blade to Trick, and the dragon took it in one of his forelimbs and then went to get the next one. Merrik glanced at the scratches on Savage's right arm, and realized that with the blood cleared he could see that the injuries seemed to have been made by human fingernails. That confused him as he thought the injuries had been made by a dragon in the North pens, and then Merrik became even more confused when he realized that there weren't any dragons in the North pens.

What had injured him if the pens were supposed to be empty, and why was he there in the first place? Was there a human in there as the injuries suggested? Merrik knew that this was no time for an interrogation, so he let it rest for now and mounted up on his dragon again after he tucked the spyglass into a saddlebag.

By this time, Trick had collected all of Kata's throwing blades and returned to her. He hovered in place as Kata took them back and lazily tucked them into her belt. She'd put them into their proper sheathes later.

Her head spun from the injury to her side, but Kata shook it off. Come on you wimp, she scolded herself, it's just a flesh wound. Alvin's sword merely grazed your rib, grow up!

Out loud, she said to Merrik, "Circle above the fleet until they're underway. If you see any Outcasts readying their defenses you can shoot first and ask questions later."

"Got it," Merrik nodded.

"Nice dragon by the way," Kata added.

"Thanks," Merrik grinned, "nice shadowthrow."

Shadowthrow was the impromptu term that had been dubbed onto her earlier move of throwing a blade hidden in the shield's shadow.

"Hey!" Savage whined at Merrik. "You're on our side!"

Merrik twisted in the saddle and looked at him with a ' _you-really-believed-that-you-gullible-idiot'_ look.

"First Alvin gets defeated by a 90-pound boy and now by a 90-pound girl," Merrik sighed and shook his head. "He's such a strong warrior. Be sure to thank him for giving me my dragon for me."

Savage swallowed and didn't speak again as the rider took off and headed over to the harbor.

"Savage," Kata addressed him.

Savage jumped to attention.

"Give Alvin my regards as well when he wakes up, will you?" Kata said smugly.

Savage did something akin to a nod, so Kata waved goodbye and started walking back to her ships, trying to hide the limp she was developing with moderate success.

* * *

 **How many of you are going Pengping that's not possible, you're just BSing it since there's no way a little girl can beat a seasoned warrior like Alvin. Most of you, right?**

 **That's exactly the mindset Alvin had. If you are so confident as to dismiss an opponent before you fight, if you believe there is no way for them to win, then it never crosses your mind to be on guard because you might lose. That gives your opponent plenty of an opening.** **Plus, Kata doesn't fight like anyone else, like keeping her shield on her back as she fights or purposefully letting Alvin pin her to the ground with his sword at her throat.**

 **I will also say that she really enjoyed tearing Alvin to pieces.** **Kata is not always psyco like Dagur, but she has her moments. Imagine facing Kata in that Berserker mode when she throws open her jacket and reveals the rows of throwing blades lining the inside of it while she has that demented smile. That's a somewhat scary situation to have gotten into.**

 **Now she has her fleet back, and sine she wants revenge for Dagur you can probably guess where she's going next. It's the island that was responsible for defeating Dagur and leaving him in Alvin's custody - Berk.**

 **Merrik's really going to be hitting himself for deciding not to interrogate Savage's injuries because it was Dagur, who is their prisoner, who clawed Savage's arm. If he had pushed the matter then Kata might have learned then that Dagur was alive, but alas, Loki's luck is ever-changing.**


	4. A Well-Planned Ambush

Kata cringed an hour later as she tugged a new tunic over her head. A wave slapped at the hull of the ship she was on and her hand brushed against the cut on her side. Pain shot through her side and she had to wait for everything to stop spinning before she could move again.

This tunic was red instead of blue, but it was free of blood and if she did start to bleed again, the color should help hide it. There was a knock on the door and Kata called, "come in," as she finished pulling her arm through the sleeve.

The door opened and Merrik poked his head in. When he saw that Kata was dressed, he walked in. In one hand was Kata's leather vest. The blood had been washed out and the rip from Alvin's sword had been mended.

"Here you are," he held it out to her.

"Thanks," Kata said quietly.

She looked at the inside of the vest where it was lined with dragon scales. Some of the scales were damaged from where Alvin's sword. It had been luck when the sword had grazed off her rib, but she smiled at how surprised Alvin must have been when his sword barely hurt her.

Kata carefully put the vest on, wincing at the movement. The scales she lined it with were Deadly Nadder, and while it might be more fragile than other dragons it was lighter and easy to come by. Lining her otherwise weak leather vest with dragon scales to increase its protection was her idea. With the lining on the inside, the enemy couldn't see it either and thought it was merely a leather vest.

"How's your side?" Merrik asked.

"The vest took most of the kinetic force," Kata grumbled. "It's stopped bleeding, but I might need a few stitches when we get home."

She laced up the vest tightly, using the compression to help with the wound.

"Our dear healer's probably going to have her hands full tending to all of the other warriors," Merrik warned. "The Outcasts didn't have a real healer so a lot of our injuries never got looked at."

Kata leaned against the wall of the ship. "That makes sense, and Outcast is such a dead island that I doubt there are many medicinal herbs there."

"None," Merrik gave a sad smile. "Jodi's a good healer though, I'm sure that she'll take a moment to tend the Chief's battle wound though."

"I hope she does," Kata sighed while Trick flew over and landed on her shoulders. "How far away are we from home?"

"We're almost to Berk," Merrik said, "So about a third of the way home."

"Berk," Kata frowned.

Berk meant Stoick, Hiccup, and _the Nightfury_. No, she scolded herself. Think about an invasion later. Her troops needed to recover before she had vengeance on Berk for Dagur's death.

"Make sure we're out of sight from the Berk coastline," Kata ordered, "and that the ships stay quiet. Have the men keep watch in shifts. Merrik, I want you and your dragon to lead a little diversion for Berk's riders…"

The five dragons of Berk flew in a 'v' formation over the sea.

"This is boring!" Snotlout shouted over the wind. "Why are we even looking for this thing?"

Hiccup looked at Snotlout seriously as Toothless flapped his wings to fight the breeze. "Just because the Screaming Death is back with its mother doesn't mean it won't cause any trouble."

"They've likely found their own island by now," Snotlout continued.

"Yes," Astrid interrupted, "and we need to make sure it's not Berk or anywhere close enough to Berk to be a problem."

"Why?" Tuffnut asked, "That thing's so cool!"

"Yeah!" Ruffnut exclaimed in agreement, "it eats islands!"

"That's why we don't want it near Berk," Fishlegs shot back.

Hiccup let the other riders argue. He could almost feel a headache coming. The idea to do one last Screaming Death patrol was not going over well. Toothless trilled at him quietly.

"Yeah bud," Hiccup sighed, "they're driving me crazy to."

Watching from a safe distance, Merrik looked over the group of five dragons. This was good. All of Berk's dragon riders were in one place. Kata's orders were clear for him: lead the Berk riders to the North and East while the Berserker fleet sails past Berk to the West and heads South. Don't kill any riders unless you have to, as that would anger them. Lead them away and once you're sure they'll keep chasing you in the wrong direction, lose them and rejoin the fleet.

Merrik checked to make sure his quiver was in the saddlebag and that his bow was secure before gently ordering his dragon down to the riders. His dragon tucked in her wings and dove.

"Would all of you _please_ stop?" Hiccup tossed the question to where the twins and Astrid were arguing.

A dragon suddenly gave from nowhere and flew down right past Toothless so close it almost hit one of Toothless's wings. Toothless gave a shriek of surprise and sheared sideways, jerking Hiccup against the saddle. The other dragon riders flew back as the attacking dragon wheeled around to face off against Berk. It was one rider against five.

The rider had ash-blonde hair and his dragon had feathers that rippled from ruby to black. It had a long whip like tail and lizard like face with sky blue cat eyes. This was a type of dragon that the Berkians had not encountered before.

Hiccup looked in surprise, not at the dragon but at the boy sitting on its back. This was… this was _another_ dragon rider. Where did he come from? How? Despite Alvin's efforts, Berk was still the only one who really tamed dragons.

Merrik raised his bow, arrow nocked. "Hey Berkians! My Chief says hello."

He drew the bowstring back so his fingers brushed his cheek and released. The arrow shot through the air straight to Astrid. Not only did this arrow fly faster than a crossbow bolt, but its aim was truer and it hit home. Astrid jerked back in the saddle and Stormfly shrieked and ducked down.

"Astrid!" Hiccup shouted while Toothless shot a plasma blast at the enemy dragon.

Toothless's opponent easily sheared sideways, while Merrik nocked another arrow and pulled the bowstring to his cheek. Barf and Belch suddenly hit him with one of their attacks, throwing off Merrik's next arrow. It hit only air and the sudden jolt almost made Merrik drop his bow.

Astrid looked down at her skull-emblazoned shoulder pad. It was dented from Merrik's arrow. If she hadn't been wearing the pads then it would have been far worse, but all it did was annoy her now.

"Stormfly, spine shot!" She ordered

The next few minutes dissolved into a dragon fight of blows being shot and dodged. His dragon spat a blue ball of flame at the Monstrous Nightmare as it tried to close in.

"Skye," Merrik ordered his dragon, "feather darts!"

His dragon sharpened the feathers on her tail so they went from being soft and fluffy to sharp as blades, and flicked her tail. Three sharpened feathers flew through the air towards the Gronkel.

"Meatlug drop!" Fishlegs shouted.

Meatlug stopped flying and instantly dropped down. The feather darts missed.

Merrik didn't have any illusions about being able to defeat all five riders – especially not with a Nightfury among their number – but he wasn't trying to defeat them. All he needed to do was distract them. As Hiccup and Toothless maneuvered to fly alongside them, Merrik drew back another arrow. Hiccup had his shield off his back and held it protectively in front of his body.

Merrik smiled as he released his arrow. He wasn't aiming at Hiccup though, and his arrow successfully hit Toothless in the side. Toothless screeched as the arrow embedded itself deeply.

Quickly, Merrik turned the bow horizontal and drew two of his throwing needles that were mounted onto his arms bracers. When Hiccup shifted his shield so he could look down at Toothless's new injury Merrik threw them. One of them grazed the side of Hiccup's neck and the other one got him right in his arm. It went clear through his arm and stuck there halfway in.

"Hiccup!" Astrid shouted.

Toothless struggled to fly. Each wingbeat drove the arrow in his side deeper. His tail flapped wildly as he tried to stay airborne. Eventually, he dove down and snapped out his wings to glide.

Merrik's dragon did a backwards somersault to dodge more spines from Astrid and her Nadder and then swung left so that the Monstrous Nightmare's fire missed. Then Merrik locked his bow onto his saddle as his dragon got close to Toothless.

Hiccup looked down at the arrow and then looked up suddenly in shock as Merrik stood in his dragon's saddle and jumped off of it. It didn't understand instantly what Merrik was doing as he landed on Toothless's wing until he ran at Hiccup. All it took was a single step to reach Hiccup, and then he grabbed the Berkian and dragged him free of Toothless saddle.

Hiccup's shield slipped from his grasp as he fell backwards off of Toothless, and watched as Toothless's tail fin collapsed. Toothless started to fall through the air as well as Merrik pushed Hiccup away from him. Merrik's dragon dove underneath, neatly catching Merrik on his back and then beating his wings and gaining altitude.

"Toothless!" Hiccup shouted and held out his hands as Toothless fell beside him, desperate to reach the saddle and the stirrup with the tail controls.

Astrid twisted in her saddle just in time to see Toothless and Hiccup crash into the ocean.

Merrik whistled loudly, drawing Astrid's horrified gaze up to him. "Hey Berkian! You can choose to save him or catch me! Last time I checked Strike-Class dragons don't swim and neither do boys with a metal leg."

With that, he tapped a few fingers on his dragon's back and the two of them caught a Jetstream heading away. The wind carried his laughter back to the Berkian riders. Astrid was still in shock from his initial attacks, trying to understand why he had attacked. He was a rider they had never met, who had no known alliances, and he had just dropped Hiccup and Toothless into the ocean.

"You three get them out of the water!" Astrid shouted at the other riders as she and Stormfly took off after the enemy rider.

Merrik glanced back and smiled when he saw Astrid following him. A wild race ensued as they wove around the seastacks. As per his ordesr, he led Astrid Norht and East. The direction he took was actually the way to Outcast Island, and if Kata's plan worked as it should then the Berkians would think he was fleeing there since he was from there.

"Stormfly, spine shot!" Astrid ordered.

Stormfly obeyed her and shot a volley of blue spines at the Rider. The Rider easily dodged the attack. Merrik flipped around in the saddle so he was facing Astrid and nocked an arrow.

"You can't hit while you're on dragon back," Astrid scoffed.

She set a hand on Stormfly, on a spot behind her crest of spines. The single spine shot worked and Stormfly took her cue and shot.

Merrik didn't nudge his dragon to dodge. He took aim. Just like always, he felt a silent calm and the only thing he could hear was his heartbeat. His finger released the string and the whoosh of the arrow flying away reawakened his senses.

His aim was dead on. The arrow hit the single spine and deflected it harmlessly away. Astrid nudged her dragon and she flew beside the rider, stunned that he had managed to hit the spine.

Merrik took another arrow out and took aim as Astrid and Stormfly pulled away. Hitting them was not going to be an easy shot, since they were not flying on a straight predictable path as the spine had been. He shot, but it easily missed both dragon and rider.

Merrik had practiced on ground and on a ship, but shooting while in flight was still new to him. With a hiss, he relaxed his pull on the bowstring. He couldn't hit her, she was simply moving too much. Suddenly he remembered his father telling him that he couldn't be an archer, and had to learn to fight with a sword like all Berserkers.

Merrik didn't like fighting with a sword. He could hardly hold it right let alone fight with it. In the end, he had convinced his father to let him be an archer and so his father had made him his longbow. _I am the best archer in my tribe, and I've brought down dragons with my arrows before. Being on a dragon myself instead of on the ground doesn't mean I can't do this._

He raised the bow again, and drew back the arrow. All the other sounds faded away until all he heard was his slow and steady heartbeat. An archer couldn't afford to let his heartbeat rise and his adrenaline take control, or he might miss. One beat per second – that was what his heartbeat was at.

He focused the aim on the rider and not the dragon. What he needed to do was lure the riders away. Killing someone would only anger Berk. His heartbeat increased, and Merrik took a breath to calm it. One beat per second. Astrid turned her dragon hard right to dodge a seastack. One beat per second. The arrow released and it leapt straight at its target.

The shrieks of dragons and beats of the wings masked the whistle of an arrow until it was too late. Astrid screamed as the bolt embedded itself in her side. Her dragon was in a turn, not flying level and the shock of the arrow hitting her made her grip slip.

As her dragon jerked to dodge a flame from Merrik's dragon, Astrid slipped from the saddle. She reached out a hand to grab the hand loops and missed. How could he hit me in the middle of a battle maneuver, Astrid thought distantly as she started falling through the air.

Merrik lowered his bow with a satisfied nod. He might not be able to do much more then hold a sword right, but he knew how to shoot fine.

"Stormfly!" Astrid shouted.

Merrik let the Nadder dive down after her rider. Stormfly wasn't able to catch Astrid before she splashed into the water. The Nadder gave a pathetic squawk as its rider vanished beneath the waves. Astrid had been smart enough to take a breath before she had hit the water, and she managed to swim to the surface. Red tainted the blue sea, and pain swamped her senses as she broke through the surface.

Stormfly was hovering there. When she saw her rider in the water the dragon let Astrid grab ahold of her foot. The Nadder pulled her out of the water and got a firm grip on Astrid's shoulders.

Stormfly flew Astrid to one of the seastacks and gently set her rider down. Astrid was able to take a breath and look back at the rider. He was smiling, holding his bow in his hand. Grinning, he waved goodbye at Astrid and flew off towards Outcast Island.

Astrid wanted to order Stormfly to take off after him, but the pain in her side stopped her. Wincing, she looked down. Her blue shirt was stained red and it was growing like a rose blossoming. The arrow had gone straight through her side.

She grimaced and tore off a strip of her soaked tunic and tied it around her side.

"Stormfly," Astrid ordered with defeat in her voice as she carefully climbed back into the saddle, "Home!"

Astrid just hoped that the others had managed to get Hiccup and Toothless out of the water.

* * *

 **Skye, the name of Merrik's dragon, is kind of like the typical four-legged giant-winged dragon from Eastern literature only she's covered in feathers over her scales.**

 **With Merrik on her side, Kata now has access to a dragon trainer who can teach her how to train more dragons, and will happily do so. She does not want Berk to know she has a dragon rider or her armada back because after everything that happened with Dagur, such as Berk hiding the fact they were riding dragons, she's not in the mood to trust Stoick.**

 **As for Merrik, the Berk riders so underestimated him. With Hiccup out of the picture, things fell apart pretty quick for Berk. Berk isn't used to fighting dragon vs dragon, and they're not used to getting hurt in battle. Normally in battle, they get out unscathed but not this time.**


	5. Blood in the Water

Hiccup hit the water hard with a ringing head and a sore arm. Toothless nearly landed on top of him. Water surrounded him and Hiccup kicked his feet to try and swim, and Toothless thrashed in the water as he also tried to swim.

Hiccup grabbed ahold of Toothless's harness to help stay afloat. "Toothless! It-it's okay bud. Just calm down!"

One of Toothless's wings came down and slammed into Hiccup, dunking him again. Hiccup wasn't able to take a breath and accidently tried to breathe once he was underwater. He tried to surface again, but his metal leg was still weighing him down.

He coughed, but one of Toothless's wings hit him again, making his head spin. Hiccup tried to breathe, but water in his lungs making him sputter and cough. Shadows danced around his sight.

Toothless realized what he had done and dove underneath to grab Hiccup. He saw his human brother floundering underwater, and saw him outstretch his hands towards Toothless. The water was red around him from his injuries.

Then the dragon saw Hiccup stop struggling. His eyes closed and he went limp. A few bubbles escaped from his lips as his human brother sank deeper into the water. Toothless dove after him, ignoring the pain in his side and gently grabbed one of his arms.

With effort, he beat his wings and dragged Hiccup to the surface. He held Hiccup's head above water, trying to make sure he could breathe. Toothless made little noises, and looked up as three of his fellow dragon pack with their human kin flew down to him.

Toothless was scared. His human brother wasn't breathing.

With effort, Barf and Belch worked with Hookfang to pull Toothless out of the water. They were holding him by his wings, claws cutting into it, but Toothless didn't care. Fishlegs reached out and took Hiccup from his grip.

Struggling not to hit each other as they flapped their wings, the dragons holding Toothless dropped him onto a sea stack. Toothless landed hard, but wasn't aware of pain. He raised his head and tried to walk over to where Fishlegs had landed with Hiccup. His legs gave out from under him, and he couldn't fold his injured wings.

Fishlegs gently set Hiccup on the ground as he got off Meatlug. Hiccup wasn't moving, wasn't breathing. Toothless let out a cry. His human couldn't be dead, he couldn't be… Not because Toothless had knocked him underwater…

* * *

Stoick stood in front of Gobber's blacksmith shop, overlooking the ocean. It was a soothing sight. A black dot appeared on the horizon in front of him, and he narrowed his eyes. There was a dragon incoming. It turned into Hookfang and Snotlout.

"Coming in hot!" Snotlout warned.

Hookfang didn't even try to slow down. He crash landed on the stone plaza and Snotlout went flying off of the saddle to crash onto the stones. Snotlout tumbled and landed on the stones.

"Snotlout!" Stoick shouted.

Wincing, Snotlout forced himself to stand up. Stoick knelt by the boy's side.

"Hiccup got shot down!" Snotlout shouted. "Toothless is injured! He can't fly. Hiccup h-he wasn't breathing. He can't swim…"

Snotlout looked down. It didn't click for Stoick. He just couldn't grasp what Snotlout had said.

Snotlout shook his head. "T-They need help! Astrid chasing after the one who took him down! I'm the fastest next to her. Y-you need to tell Gothi, and Toothless took an arrow. I don't know if he's still alive even. The injuries were bad. There was a lot of blood in the water."

His voice trembled and broke off in fear. Snotlout wasn't used to being injured in battle either. Normally Berk escaped uninjured, but not this time.

"I-I need a tarp," Snotlout stuttered. "We have to carry Toothless back. Gobber!"

Gobber had already come out of the forge to see what the racket was, and now ran back inside to find a tarp.

"Who attacked them?" Stoick demanded.

"Another dragon rider," Snotlout said, "an archer. He took out Hiccup so fast…"

Gobber came out then, dragging the tarp behind him. Hookfang flew over and grabbed the tarp with his talons and Snotlout scrambled into his saddle.

"I'll come… with… you…" Stoick tried to say.

He remembered painfully that he didn't have Thornado anymore, and when Snotlout hesitated he nodded at the boy to go on without him. Hookfang spread his wings and the two of them flew off hard and fast, leaving Stoick to look helplessly after him. He wished he still had Thornado. Stoick knew better than to try and mope however.

"Alert Gothi that she has patient's incoming," he said quietly as he watched Snotlout and Hookfang vanish from sight.

Hookfang flew hard and fast to where Hiccup and Toothless had been left. Hiccup was breathing now, but still unconscious. Snotlout felt immensely relived when he saw Hiccup's chest rise and fall.

"Astrid, can you fly on your own?" Fishlegs asked as he finished bandaging up her side.

"I should be able to make it back to the village," Astrid said.

Her voice was moist from the blood that had seeped into her lungs and a drop of blood rolled down between her lips. Fishlegs didn't entirely believe her, but couldn't do much about it.

"I can carry Hiccup," he offered. "Meatlug can take two."

"All right," Astrid said as she climbed back onto her dragon.

Fishlegs ran over to Hiccup and Tuffnut helped pull him into the saddle. Even the Twins were all out of pranks. Toothless limped over and collapsed onto the tarp. His wings were now badly torn, but the main injury was the arrow. The arrow was perilously close to his heart, and embedded up to the fletching nearly. He needed medical help even worse than Hiccup.

"Take off," Fishlegs ordered as Meatlug opened his wings and took off.

The other dragon riders hesitantly did. Hookfang and Barf and Belch grabbed the tarp, and flew just as fast as they could. Meatlug unfortunately couldn't fly very fast, and Stormfly had to take her time so Astrid didn't fall off.

Hookfang and the Zippleback got to Berk first and tried to land gently. Gobber and Stoick were already running over.

Stoick took command. "Snotlout, have Hookfang drag Toothless over. He needs medical attention. Where's my son?"

"He's coming," Tuff called out as he and Ruff got off their dragon and backed out of the way.

"I'm going back out," Snotlout announced once the tarp was untangled from Hookfang's claws. "Astrid got shot to."

"Go," Stoick agreed.

No sooner did Hookfang fly off did Meatlug's shadow fall overhead. Rather than land on the ground, Fishlegs directed Meatlug to take Hiccup straight to Gothi. Every one of Stoick's instincts as a father screamed to go to Gothi and check in on his son, but his instincts as a chief took over. There was nothing he could do for Hiccup at the moment. Even if he ran all the way to Gothi's hut or got one of the riders to take him he'd do little more than get in Gothi's way. After a short struggle, Stoick forced himself to turn his back to Gothi's hut and confront Ruff and Tuff.

"You two better tell me what's going on right now," he ordered them.

* * *

The two fidgeted nervously, and then nodded agreement.

It was far too long for Stoick by the time he was able to go back home where his son was resting. According to Gothi, Hiccup's worst injuries were the needles to his arm and the after effects of drowning.

Toothless was in more severe condition, but Gobber had managed to remove the arrow from the rogue rider without too much trouble. It would be some time before Toothless could move, and even longer before he could fly, but he would also be okay.

Astrid was a different story. The arrow had gone straight through her side rather than embed itself in it, so there had been nothing to staunch the bleeding on the flight back to Gothi. She had lost too much blood and would be laid up for several days. Unlike Hiccup and Toothless she had yet to regain consciousness, and Stoick worried.

When Stoick thought about how different things could have gone, he saw red. A rogue rider, not bearing the colors or crest of any known tribe, had attacked Berk's riders for no reason and nearly killed his son and Toothless. For that rider's sake he had better not come back to Berk, but what could Stoick do to him even if he did?

Without Thornado he had no dragon and could do little more than shout at him. Stoick missed Thornado sharply as he walked up the stairs to his son's room and knocked on the wall.

"Yes?" Hiccup asked with a voice still hoarse from swallowing seawater.

Stoick stepped into his son's room. "It's me."

"Hi dad," Hiccup greeted Stoick with a tired smile.

He had propped himself up with his pillow, and was holding an arrow in his hands. His injured arm was in a sling and bandaged.

"How are you doing?" Stoick asked nervously.

"I'm fine," Hiccup shrugged and ran the fingers of his good arm across the length of the shaft. "Gobber said Toothless was doing alright, but how's Astrid?"

"She hasn't regained consciousness yet," Stoick admitted.

Hiccup's fingers tightened on the arrow, but he didn't say anything.

Stoick looked at the arrow Hiccup was staring so intently at. "Son, is that?"

"The arrow that rogue rider shot Toothless with?" Hiccup finished for his father, "yeah. Gobber gave it to me once he removed it."

"May I?" Stoick asked.

Hiccup held out the arrow and Stoick took it. He looked it over. The arrow was perfectly straight, and tipped with a normal metal arrowhead. Its shaft was made of fir and the feathers that fletched it were two raven and one cardinal.

"I've never seen cardinal and raven feathers used together before," Stoick apprised and handed it back to Hiccup. "It's very odd choices."

Hiccup's eyes lit up. "That means that there aren't very many people using the combination, maybe just the one rider. If I find the person using these arrows then I find out who attacked us."

It was a start of a plan at least. The rest of a plan soon followed, but Hiccup didn't mention it to his father. Stoick would turn him down, and Hiccup needed to rest for right now. Once he rested he could continue on his investigation by visiting the only other island he knew was training dragons – Outcast.

* * *

 **Wow this chapter was so painful to write. It's probably painful for you to read to, seeing so many chapter breaks. I know each break changes a POV but meh, hard chapter. The next one should be sooner in coming and a little easier to read.**

 **The only important thing here is that Merrik left one of his arrows behind, so when Hiccup takes the arrow to Outcast he should be able to find someone there who remembers that the arrow was Merrik. Whether or not Hiccup gets that lucky has yet to be determined.**


	6. Total Victory

Sitting atop a cliff overlooking the sea to the north, a young Berserker boy nine years old lay in the branches of an oak tree and watched the glassy ocean. It was sunny out today, and a light breeze ruffled his white hair. His hair was such a startling shade of pure white that it almost seemed to glow on its own.

He straightened suddenly, and fished out his spyglass from his satchel. When he raised the spyglass to the horizon he was rewarded with the sight of a ship sailing under the Berserker sail. More ships appeared beside the one until the entire horizon seemed to be comprised of Berserker ships.

"She did it," the boy said contently.

He replaced his spyglass back into his satchel and carefully climbed down the tree. As soon as his feet touched the ground he was off running to the southern side of Berserk where the village was. Their Chief had gotten the armada back.

He suddenly slid to a stop on the dry leaves covering the forest floor. The light that filtered through the canopy had a distinct green tint to it, although a few shafts of pure golden light slipped through the leaves. What about the blood?

Three days ago he had had one of his visions, and in that vision there had been blood on the black rock of Outcast Island. Was it his chief's blood, or Outcast? Was his chief okay?

Although he could catch glimpses of the future, he could not control when he got them or what they were. He had seen the blood and the image of the Berserker armada showing up on the horizon as it had a few minutes ago, but little more. Whose blood was it that he had seen?

He tilted his head back towards the approaching armada and then resumed his course back to the village.

* * *

Kata was standing on the bow of Vorg's ship hours later when it and the rest of the armada pulled into the harbor. Her shield was on her back again and Trick was draped around her shoulders, head resting in his paws. Standing at the stern was Merrik, and his dragon Skye had sat itself down like a cat at his shoulder. Wouldn't her tribe be surprised to see a dragon with a saddle wearing the Berserker colors?

There were so many boats in the armada that the fishing craft were locked onto the docks and the Berserks were able to reach land by jumping from one deck to another until they got to a ship that had managed to land at a dock.

The docks themselves were absolutely full of the Berserker villagers, mostly shield-maidens and children. All of them were waving and calling, and the noise was astounding.

"Wow," Kata whispered to the person walking up behind her. "There are so many… It looks like everyone's here."

"Can you blame them?" Captain Vorg chuckled at the wonder in Kata's eyes. "You managed to bring their families home, and all of our surviving ships. Behind me stands not only a dragon rider, but a trainer. When they learn of how you tore Alvin to ribbons to regain the fleet their cheers will get even louder. This is what I call a total victory."

"A total victory you say?" Kata said thoughtfully and looked at the boards of the ship's deck. "We're one person short of a total victory."

Vorg knew the person Kata was talking about was Dagur. Kata would never consider this a victory, not with her brother dead. The siblings had always been unnaturally close, and Kata was obviously hurting from her brother's murder.

The boat scraped against the dock and _Wolfwind_ 's ropes were thrown to some of the crowd on the docks. It was fastened quickly, and Kata waved at her people with a smile. Her movement made the cheers grow louder, and although she looked off-guard by the warm reception she did her best to hide it.

White hair bobbed through the crowd, and the villagers respectfully parted to let a young Berserker boy through.

"Leif," Kata greeted the white haired boy. "You look troubled. Are you alright?"

"There was blood," Leif remarked idly with one finger in his mouth.

Kata smiled and put a hand to the vest Merrik had fixed, "most likely Alvin's."

"Alvin?" A Berserker woman Dagur's age asked.

"Aye Jodi," Kata nodded.

Just like with Leif, the crowd let her by unhindered. Although village did not know about Leif's visions, they gave him instant respect for his amazing ability to stare down any dragon and make it bow to him as if he were an alpha dragon. Jodi's respect had been earned by the village from her role as chief healer. Her storm gray eyes narrowed on Kata's side.

"What happened?" She asked tartly.

"Alvin wouldn't turn over the armada to me," Kata shrugged, "so I convinced him otherwise."

"Uh huh," Jodi crossed her arms dubiously. "How exactly did you convince Alvin?"

"Um," Kata chewed the right side of her lower lip, unsure how to explain.

"Kata defeated Alvin in single combat, and won the rights back to the armada," Vorg announced loudly before Kata could stop him.

Kata made a small stuttering noise, and held out her hands towards Vorg as if to warn him down.

"What?" Jodi's eyebrows shot straight up.

Kata dropped her hands to her side and looked down at her boots. "Yes."

Word was passed to those who hadn't heard Vorg's announcement and just as Vorg had predicted, the cheers grew louder. Kata looked like she wanted to hide behind her shield. After darting around her eyes a few times and realizing that the cheers on the docks were being echoed by the troops on the boots, she dropped her eyes and scratched Trick under the chin so she wouldn't have to make eye contact with anyone.

Vorg gazed at his young chief in amazement. Were Kata's cheeks turning _red_? He had never, ever seen her get so flustered before. This was likely the first time this had happened though since it was normally Dagur's name being cheered. Poor Kata, he hadn't meant to embarrass her so.

The cheers suddenly faltered and everyone on the lower docks where _Wolfwind_ was stepped back. It seemed that Skye had finally moved and been seen. In a mood to play to the crowd, Merrik put his foot in the stirrup and climbed into Skye's saddle. Leif was the only one who stepped forward, and the boy walked fearlessly to _Wolfwind_.

Kata looked truly relieved to have the sudden attention removed from her. She didn't deserve the cheers, not after failing her brother.

"Who's this?" Leif asked Merrik and held out a hand to Skye.

"This is Skye," Merrik introduced. "She's mine."

"She's pretty," Leif purred.

Skye was pretty, so to speak. Her body was covered in feathers that rippled from black to ruby and had surprisingly blue eyes that were the color of a clear sky. There was a large crest of feathers behind her head akin to a Deadly Nadder's, and her tapered and elongated head was set on a serpentine neck.

Four limbs were set on the ground, and each paw had ivory talons instead of the usual black ones. The tail was whip like and had a small horizontal fan of feathers on the end. Unlike most dragons, she had no overbite or under bite and her ivory shark like teeth were hidden perfectly when she closed her jaws. A small pair of ivory horns swept straight backwards on her head.

Skye chirped and wiggled her tail appreciatively at the compliment. She spread her feathery wings folded on her back and bowed to Leif, just as all dragons tended to do. Leif giggled and returned the bow.

Leif's actions soothed the crowd of any immediate fears, and the Berserkers now inched forward to the sight of Merrik on dragonback, and to Kata. She was quickly swamped with questions, and Vorg stepped up behind her to try and help his niece with the crowd. While the noise level from the crowd continued to rise Leif hopped aboard the ship and walked over to Merrik.

Skye lowered her finely-proportioned head and Leif stroked her, running his fingers through the feathers. "Berk isn't the only dragon riders anymore, are they?"

"Nope," Merrik grinned. "With luck I should be able to talk Kata into letting me train more riders."

Leif nodded absentmindedly and looked Merrik over to make sure that he was fine, and that the blood he had seen in his vision was not his friend's. It didn't look like it was.

"What?" Merrik asked curiously.

Leif shook it off, and then raised his eyes when he Willem walked over to him. "Hello brother."

"Leif," Willem returned happily. "Long time no see. Were you worried? You can't have been though, since a vision would have warned you."

"I don't control when I see things or what I see," Leif reminded his brother in his usual soft voice. "I actually have an idea to fix that. You know I got my visions after that Monstrous Nightmare killed me, so maybe if I die a second time they'll become even clearer."

Willem and Merrik stared at Leif. Leif's body language and tone were emotionless and perfectly serious. As ever, it was impossible to tell if he was being serious.

"I'm not being serious," Leif admitted after a few seconds of letting the two squirm. "Father's looking for you."

"Dace? Of course he is," Willem rolled his eyes. "He's in the forge again, right? Knowing Jodi though, he'll have to wait for I fear she'll want to look everyone over."

"She better look at Kata first," Merrik remarked seriously. "As high a tolerance to pain as she has, Alvin still managed a hit."

As he spoke he ran his fingers over the arrows in his quiver, counting how many he touched. It seemed he had lost six arrows in his attack on Berk's riders. He made a mental note to restock his quiver with the spare arrows he had back home and lowered his hand back to Skye's saddle.

Skye spread her leaf-shaped membraned wings in preparation to take off. There were no feathers on the blood red membrane, but plenty on the scaled part. Jodi caught sight of the dragon spreading her wings and drew a lip back.

"Merrik! Where are you going? I need to look you over." Jodi said warningly, not the least bit fazed by the fact Merrik was on a dragon.

"I'm not going anywhere," Merrik promised. "I thought it might be nice to have an eye in the sky helping direct all the boats."

Leif stepped back, and Skye beat her wings in a sharp downstroke. After a few wingbeats the two of them flew up high, and lazily circled the armada. While the other Berserkers skittered back when Skye took off, Leif only watched in curiosity and Jodi tssked in annoyance at Merrik's escape.

The conversation started again, even louder than before. Kata closed her eyes and took a deep breath to calm herself. When that failed she let her Berserker blood spike a little.

"SHUT UP!" She threw her head back and shouted at the top of her lungs.

Silence fell, and Kata massaged a temple.

"Thank you," she sighed. "Now, why don't we clear off the docks so that our soldiers can come onto dry land? I will explain what has happened."

"Not until I look you over," Jodi corrected. "You're bleeding."

Kata looked down at her side and sure enough, red was blossoming across the leather vest and dripping from her tunic. "Fine Jodi, after you stitch me up."

"Better," Jodi chided.

"All right everyone," Vorg repeated loudly. "You heard the chief. Let's clear off the docks so our men can come ashore. Jodi, I leave the rest to you."

"Wise idea," Jodi promised. "Come on Kata."

Jodi hooked an arm around Kata's and started dragging the young chief up the docks to her home and the medical ward within it. Kata let Jodi drag her. There was no way one could argue with her and win. As the chief healer, Jodi's authority trounced even the acting chief's.

Once they reached Jodi's home, Kata was escorted to one of the cots lined up on the first floor and instructed to strip. She did so with a sigh, taking off first her shield, jacket, arm bracers, vest, and then her blood-stained tunic. It was unsalvageable, and the right sleeve had been torn off and bunched up to serve as bandages to staunch the bleeding of the gash on her side. Trick went and sat on her vest.

Without her tunic and vest, you could now see a long scar on her chest from where a sword had sliced her along the right side of her collarbone.

Jodi came back over once Kata had stripped. She cleaned the blood away with a rag to get a clearer look at the injury and what Kata had done to it. The blood kept flowing, but Jodi knew that wasn't always a bad thing. Fresh blood would wash away contaminates that might poison the blood.

"How did you cauterize it?" Jodi asked after she finished apprising and stood up to fetch a needle, thread, and sleeping draught.

"I had Trick heat up one of my throwing blades with his flame and then put the red blade on the injury," Kata answered with a shrug. "I know you tell me not to cauterize it on my own, but even with the perfect wind it still took three days to return home from Outcast and I needed to stop the bleeding somehow."

"You didn't use a sleeping potion or anything to numb the pain?" Jodi queried without turning around form her wall of potions and herbs.

"No," Kata promised, "but I bit down on the scabbard of one of my daggers."

Jodi shook her head in amazement. Kata was acting like what she had done hadn't hurt at all, and it probably hadn't hurt her. Sometimes the smallest scrape would leave Kata howling, but other times her pain tolerance was flat out unnatural.

Odder then her fluctuating pain tolerance was her changing emotions. She had gone from being flustered and embarrassed on the docks to almost an emotionless uncaring state. Like her brother, her mood was not set. It was yet another odd quirk of her Berserker blood.

Jodi passed Kata a small mug of sleeping draught. "I know stitching the wound shut won't hurt, but drink this anyway."

"Fine," Kata said without much of an argument and downed the potion.

Like most of Jodi's potions it was sweetened with honey so it didn't taste like stale swamp water. Kata leaned back onto the bed, and was soon enough fast asleep. Once Kata's heartbeat slowed and breathing deepened, Jodi threaded the needle and stitched up the gash on her side.

* * *

 **Leif is the boy from the first part, and there will be more explanation in coming. As I said earlier, I don't think the Norse gods stay silent, and they do take a slight role. Yes, Leif died and had the visions when he returned. Their role is usually minor since Odin doesn't want them to interfere with the humans, but Odin can't keep a watch over all of the gods** **24/7** **so... there are exceptions.**

 **As for Kata, she's not unbelievable unstable just all the time like Dagur is, and goes from stable to not stable, but you already know what she's like in battle. Normally she's stable, and like a normal person when she's around Dagur because she needs to keep him in line. He keeps her stable. Dagur also does try to behave himself when he's with Kata, so she also kept him stable. When he went off to war in _Riders: Defenders of Berk_ Kata wasn't there so he gets worse and worse. **

**They kept each other in check but now Dagur isn't with Kata anymore. He's Alvin's prisoner on Outcast, and Kata and the rest of the Archipelago believe he's dead. Without him around, Kata's own stability is going to start to slip.**


	7. White Lie

Hiccup woke up just after sunrise and went down to Gobber's shop to check on Toothless, Toothless having spent the night there. He found his dragon lying in front of the shop with his wings spread wide to either side.

When he approached, Toothless stirred and slowly cracked open his eyes. His pupils widened when he recognized Hiccup and he swept the ground with his tail happily.

"Hi bud," Hiccup greeted and knelt by Toothless's side.

He held Toothless's giant head in his hands and overlooked his friend's injuries. In the three days that had passed since the rogue dragon rider's attack Hiccup had learned just how quickly dragons could heal, and had been amazed. Although the spot where the arrow had struck would leave a small scar it was otherwise healed, and Gobber had told Hiccup last night that come morning he could take Toothless out for a gentle test flight. Hiccup intended to do that right now.

While Hiccup worked to reattach the harness Gobber had removed to treat Toothless's wound, he couldn't help but think back to Astrid. Three days had passed since she had been shot down, but she had not yet awakened. Gothi had said that Astrid had likely slipped into a coma.

The rogue rider's arrow had gone straight through Astrid's side, so there had been nothing to staunch the bleeding other than a strip of her tunic she had torn off and tried to press to the wound. Not only had she lost a critical amount of blood, but the arrow had severely damaged her left kidney and the surrounding organs. Her coma had put her mind to sleep to limit the strain on her body, but like with most comas, there was no way to tell Astrid's body when it was healed and safe to wake up.

Right now, Astrid's body was busy healing the injury and the coma had likely saved her life. What happened once Astrid was healed? Would her body know to come out of the coma, or would she never awaken?

Hiccup shook the thoughts from his mind sharply and checked to make sure the stirrup's tail controls worked. This was all because of the rouge rider that had come out of nowhere and attacked for no reason. He owed that rogue rider and hopefully he would soon have a lead on his whereabouts.

Toothless churred quietly, looking up at Hiccup with wide pupils. He knew Hiccup was troubled, and Hiccup ran a hand across Toothless's scales as he led his dragon from the shop to clear sky.

"I'm okay bud," Hiccup lied. "Let's test your wings and see how they hold."

Hiccup saddled up and opened the tailfin. Toothless stretched his sore wings and took off. The first few flaps were unsteady, but then Toothless leveled out and stretched his wings to glide over the ocean's surface.

Hiccup put Toothless through some basic turns and battle maneuvers, but it seemed his wings had healed to the point where he wasn't hampered. After about half an hour of this, the two landed on a seastack and Hiccup checked out Toothless's wings. There were no near tears or blood on the wing membranes, and the arrow wound on his chest was fine as well.

He was amazed at how quickly Toothless had healed, and equally relieved. Hiccup needed to go to Outcast Island as soon as possible and question Alvin about the arrow and the rogue rider. There was an alliance between Outcast and Berk, so Hiccup didn't think he'd be troubled by Alvin unless…

What if the rouge rider _was_ one of Alvin's, and Alvin had purposefully sent him to kill Hiccup and deal a preemptive strike that would lead to a full war? If Alvin had betrayed Berk then Hiccup would be flying right into a trap. Outcast was the only lead Hiccup had to the rogue rider though. He had to go.

Flying with the whole Academy at comfortable speed would take 19 hours. Toothless flying alone at full speed would probably take under 12, but Hiccup didn't want to push Toothless after his injuries so he would probably take closer to 19 hours. If Alvin had betrayed them then he didn't want to show up before Alvin with Toothless exhausted.

To be on the safe side he'd break the 19 hours into two days of 8-hour flight and arrive on Outcast the morning of the third day. That meant that it would take three days to get there and three days back, so even if Hiccup only spent a day on Outcast he'd still be gone for an entire week. Stoick would never agree to it, even if Hiccup was sure that Alvin wasn't behind the rogue rider attack – which he wasn't.

What if he didn't go and the rouge rider returned? Without any new information on him or his dragon, which was also a new species, they'd probably lose again. To make the situation worse, Berk was down to only five riders.

No, Hiccup shook the thought off. Berk had six riders and Astrid would wake up soon. He needed information on the rider, and since Outcast was the only island he knew that was training dragons it was the best place to start his search.

After another half-hour of more intensive battle maneuvers Hiccup called it a day and they returned to Berk. Gobber took another look at Toothless and declared that he had returned to full health, so Hiccup's plan of asking Alvin about the arrow's owner was not changed. He would need to gather supplies, write a note telling his father where he had gone, and leave for Outcast Island without letting the other riders know of his plans. It wasn't going to be easy.

In fact, it became much harder when the whole academy showed up in front of Gobber's shop on dragonback. Hiccup could on be so surprised when the three dragons landed.

"Hiccup!" Snotlout called out. "When are we going after that crazy rider?"

"We're not," Hiccup corrected sadly.

"Huh?" All four of them said at the same time.

"We can't," Hiccup explained. "We know nothing about this rider, his name, his reasons, or even his allegiance. He mentioned that " _his chief said hello_ " right before the attack, but we have no idea who that is. His dragon is one we've never seen before. We have no way to track him, and even if he did I don't know if we could beat him. He took down all six of us the first time, and now there are only five riders."

"Hey!" Ruff complained. "It's not like we expected him. If he were Alvin or Dagur then we would have been right on him!"

Ruff wasn't wrong. The element of surprise had played in the archer's favor. Next time their paths crossed, they would be better prepared to face him. Hiccup intended that next time he'd have some answers.

"Fishlegs," Hiccup addressed, "did you find any information on his dragon?"

"There's no entry of it in the Book of Dragons," Fishlegs agreed sadly. "I did find a mention of it in Bork's Notes, but there wasn't very much."

"Something's better than nothing," Hiccup shrugged. "What did it say?"

"It was just a few sentences mentioned in passing," Fishlegs admitted. "Bork said that he say a dragon matching the rider's in the distance while he was out fishing. He never got close enough to draw a picture, and apparently never saw it again."

Hiccup's hopes sank. Putting Fishlegs on research had been his last hope that he would catch something Hiccup had missed. It was to no avail. Asking Alvin about the rouge rider was now Hiccup's only option.

"I was afraid of that," Hiccup sighed.

"So?" Snotlout repeated. "What are we doing next?"

"We'll patrol around the island," Hiccup explained. "Snotlout, you take the east coast. Ruff, Tuff, you two can check out the east. Toothless isn't back up to full strength so we'll keep our patrol close to the village. Don't try to see the rogue rider by yourself if you see him. I don't want anyone else getting hurt."

Hookfang and the twins took off and Meatlug walked forward, Fishlegs still on her saddle.

"What about me?" Fishlegs asked urgently.

"Fishlegs," Hiccup addressed. "I need you to look through everything again and see if there's more information on this dragon. Feeding habits, preferred habitat, anything that could help us find or defeat it."

"You got it," Fishlegs promised.

Hiccup watched Fishlegs and Meatlug leave, and then motioned to Toothless to follow him. He didn't like lying to his friends, but he needed to have them scattered so they wouldn't find out what they were doing and come with him. If that rogue rider returned, then he wanted the rest of the academy here to defend Berk while he was traveling to Outcast.

His father wasn't home, so his plan to stock up on supplies and leave quietly became easier. He went up to his room and fetched two satchels for Toothless so he could carry supplies. Into them went a map, an extra tail fin, a tied bundle with basic medical supplies, one of his spyglasses, a canteen, and an extra connecting rod because he had learned by now that it was usually the connecting rod that was damaged. The arrow fletched with raven feathers from his attack went in last.

While Toothless settled down on his slab and nosed over his injuries, Hiccup thoroughly looked over his shield. He made a few adjustments on the mini-catapult, made sure the grappling line was secure and that there was a bola stored in it. Before he forgot, he added extra bola to the satchel and checked to made sure he had his own dagger tucked into his vest.

With Toothless resting a little, Hiccup used a scrap of parchment and squid ink to pen a quick letter to his father and the other dragon riders. After thinking about it he wrote a paragraph and placed the note in plain sight on his desk next to his journal.

The note read: _Gone to Outcast Island for answers on the rogue rider if possible. Will be taking normal route and stop overs. Be back in seven days at most. If longer, Alvin has betrayed us and captured me so send help. Otherwise stay on Berk and do not catch up to me. Do not leave Berk dragonless in case the rogue rider returns and attacks. Hiccup_

Hopefully the other riders would listen to him and stay and protect Berk. Hiccup fastened the satchels on Toothless, one on each side, and slung his shield over his back.

"Ready for some answers?" Hiccup asked.

Toothless roared softly in what Hiccup took to be a yes, and the two of them went back outside. Fishlegs was already back indoors and there was no sign of the other riders or Stoick. Hiccup was relieved and saddled up, locking his prosthetic leg in place.

"All right bud," Hiccup leaned forward and told Toothless. "Let's go get some answers."

Toothless spread his wings in response and took off.

* * *

 **The events on Berserk and with Hiccup are happening at the same time, so the view is going to keep switching between the two.** ** _Ex: Hiccup's going to be flying to Outcast for the next few days so there isn't going to be anything happening from his POV, so the action is going to happen on Berserk. When Hiccup arrives on Outcast then the scene will shift back to him._ **

**He says he's going to patrol and then starts to fly towards Outcast. It might be a harmless white lie when he says it, and hopefully he won't regret doing this.** **Yes Hiccup is a moron for doing something solo like this, but can you really see him leaving Berk defenseless?**


	8. An Old Enemy

Captain Vorg of the _Wolfwind_ left Jodi's ward with a clean bill of health, and idly walked around the village, relishing in the sight of green grass and leafy trees. Throughout his walk he saw many of his fellow warriors, and delighted in the sound of the children laughing and running as they mockingly chased each other. He had stayed with Dagur to help his nephew, but was still glad to be home. Dagur…

When Dagur's name came to mind, Vorg' thoughts began to turn dark and he shook them off so he could continue enjoying his walkabout. He and his men had mourned Dagur's death already, and done their best to move on. Dagur was dead, and that was all there was to it.

Along his walk he happened to come across the peculiar sight of Skye sitting on the ground in front of Merrik's home. Skye was delicately grooming the feathers under one wing, but she gave a quiet trill by way of hello at Vorg's approach. Vorg dipped his head in greeting. Unlike the rest of Berserk he was relatively used to the idea of riding dragons after having fought the Berkians.

He was surprised to see that Merrik wasn't with his dragon, and that the door to Merrik's home was closed. Vorg curiously walked up to the door and knocked. There was silence for a few seconds and Vorg thought that Merrik wasn't home and had left his dragon by herself.

"Come in," Merrik's voice called out just as Vorg was going to step down.

Vorg opened the door instead and entered. Merrik was sitting at the dining table with a group of arrows laid out side by side, and a bowl filled with some sort of white goop. The arrows laid out had a bluejay feather rather than a red cardinal. One arrow was in his hand.

Merrik turned his head to see the visitor and smiled, "hello Captain."

"What are you doing exactly?" Vorg asked.

"Making some new poison arrows," Merrik said simply as if that explained everything, but after dipping the arrowhead into the mixture he realized he better explain. "That's right. You and the rest of the armada left, so you never saw me do this. You remember how when trader Johann came the last time Jodi got some blue oleander flowers from him?"

"That was when Johann told Dagur that Berk was riding dragons, right?" Vorg clarified.

"That's the one," Merrik agreed and ran his fingers across the arrowhead to evenly apply the mixture across the metal. "Blue oleanders are poisonous to dragons, and Jodi helped me make this balm from their sap and pollen. I coat these blue fletched arrows with them, and one shot well placed will kill a dragon. It doesn't happen instantly, but it will kill them later on. Best of all, it's not poisonous to humans."

"An arrow that can kill a dragon even if it's not a kill shot," Vorg mused. "I imagine that's quite useful during a dragon attack."

"Dragon attacks are the whole reason why I made the balm," Merrik admitted and set the arrow he had been working with down on a piece of green cloth to dry. "We don't get as many dragon attacks as Berk used to since we're so far south, but they would raid from time to time. My blue arrows are made to help in that situation."

"Yes but instead of dragon raids we have the pirates to deal with," Vorg commented and put a hand to his forehead. "Thor knows they cause enough trouble. Berk's too far north for them to bother with, but Berserk seems perfectly situated."

"It's not like they fight us often," Merrik remarked and picked up another arrow. "Normally they pillage as much as they can, and then split once they see our sails and they never attack the village itself. I do love my bow in those times though because I can sink an arrow in their neck even as they run."

"You do have some of the highest kill tallies among the warriors," Vorg complimented.

Merrik gave a dark smile and applied the balm to the arrow in his hand. "I owe them blood for blood for what they did to my family."

An uncomfortable silence fell in the wake of Merrik's declaration and it made Vorg shift nervously. Merrik was one of those Berserkers who rarely went berserk, but the subject of how the pirates had massacred his family several years ago was a sure way to raise his temper. Vorg for one did not want to fight a friend of his niece, especially not one who was busy poisoning his arrows.

"That's why Skye's outside, isn't it?" Vorg changed the subject instead. "You don't want to poison her by accident while you're working with your balm."

"Correct," Merrik agreed and set the arrow in his hand beside the others. "Once I put up the balm, wash up, and have the arrowheads dry then I'll go see her. By the way, I'm surprised you're not with Kata."

"Didn't Jodi assign her to bedrest when she finished stitching her up two days ago?" Vorg asked curiously.

"Jodi did," Merrik agreed. "I stopped to see Kata once, and she's… well… depressed, about Dagur."

"I see," Vorg remarked quietly.

It seemed his thoughtless comment about 'total victory' had had repercussions.

"With him dead, you're her own only family left Vorg." Merrik reminded him. "Maybe you can cheer her up."

It was a clear dismissal, and Vorg decided it was best to take his leave. "I'll go see her now."

"Good," Merrik nodded idly and applied the balm to a third arrow.

Vorg left and closed the door behind him. He shook himself. Sometimes Merrik scared him more than Dagur ever had. Skye shifted one of her sky blue eyes at him as he walked out without interrupting her preening, and Vorg bowed again before he started the walk to the chief's home – Kata's home now.

On his way there he walked by Willem lying in the sun on a patch of grass, enjoying the clear sunlight that fell on him. There was no sign of either of his younger brothers. Leif was likely sitting on top of a roof where he could overlook the village, but it was hard to tell what trouble Arin had gotten himself into this time.

Jodi had worked her way through most of the Berserker soldiers throughout the two days, and most had been dismissed rather quickly. There had been no sickness among the troops, so the village did not have to worry about disease. Kata had only been dismissed back home a few hours ago.

The armada and the Berserker soldiers had only been home for two days, and already everything had returned to normal. Their longships had traded out catapults for fishing nets, and the armor most Berserkers wore for war had been cleaned and stored away. Vorg himself enjoyed not wearing any of the heavy metal.

Normally, the lack of the armor's weight would make him feel light, but now he only felt wary. Although Kata's Berserker side normally only showed itself in her fluctuating pain tolerance and personality changes, she was still a Berserker. Worse, she was of the Chief's Berserker line so her berserker side was stronger than most.

It just took a lot to awaken it, and anyone threatening her brother was the surest way to upset her. Now Merrik said she was depressed about losing her brother, and Vorg wasn't sure if she was going to throw one of Dagur's axes at him when he knocked. She had once before.

Vorg was understandably wary when he finally reached Kata's home and knocked. No axe hit the door, so Vorg cautiously called out to Kata. There was no answer, so he opened the door. He kept a hand near the sword slung over his shoulder in case Kata was waiting for him to enter before she threw something.

The lower room was empty. Kata's shield was lying on the table, and Trick was curled up in a ball next to it on Kata's vest, sound asleep. Vorg quietly closed the door and looked around. There was no fire burning in the hearth. Since both her shield and Trick were here it was obvious Kata was, but where?

Vorg looked at the stairs and called up, "Kata!"

There was no answer. Vorg was sure she was there though so he marched up the steps to the upper floor where her and Dagur's rooms were. The door to Kata's room was closed, and Vorg was going to open it until he realized that the door to Dagur's room was open.

Curious, he pushed it open with one hand, "Kata?"

Dagur's room was just like he'd left it last month, and sitting on the floor against his desk was Kata. She had her legs curled up close to her and was holding something protectively in her arms. Her head was lowered and her ribbon was missing from her hair, allowing her bangs to fall into her face.

"Kata?" Vorg repeated cautiously.

He saw Kata raise her head just enough to see who it was and then lower it again.

"I failed him Vorg," Kata whispered, holding the item tighter. "You called my return a total victory and yet I came back without my brother."

Vorg knelt down in front of her, and saw that she was holding a stuffed Skrill toy her mother had made for Dagur. Dagur had always been fiercely protective of "Skrilly," as he called the toy, and had never let Kata play with it growing up. It had been his Skrilly, only now the toy dragon had lost its master.

"It wasn't your fault Kata," Vorg promised his niece. "If anything it's my fault since I was with him, and he was usually standing on _Wolfwind_ 's deck. You were here on Beserk. There's no way you could have known what was happening to Dagur."

"I should have though," Kata argued morosely and looked at the toy. "I just should have. Dagur's the only family I've ever had besides you uncle, and now he's gone."

Vorg hesitated, unsure what to say to comfort Kata. It was clear that her earlier calm on Outcast had been nothing more than an act to upset Alvin and encourage her troops to follow her. This was how she really felt.

Kata reached up and mutely tugged down the collar of her blue tunic to reveal the sword scar on the right side of her collarbone. "Do you remember when I got this, Vorg? It was about a year and a half ago."

"I remember," Vorg recalled darkly. "Oswald had caught you training out in the forest, and surprised you."

Kata nodded and traced the scar with a finger. "Jodi fixed me up, but Dagur soon found out. If you hadn't crossed paths with him before he found Oswald then I'm sure he would have killed Oswald."

Vorg remembered that to. Dagur had been furious that Oswald had hurt Kata, and when Vorg had tried to stop him Dagur had drawn the sword on his back. It had been a fight for his life as Vorg tried to disarm Dagur and get him to listen to reason. Reason was not one of Dagur's strong suits.

The sibling's mother and Vorg's younger sister, Sefa, had been killed when Dagur was only five. Sefa, like Willem, Arin, and Leif's mother, and Merrik's parents had been killed by the pirates. After Sefa's murder Oswald had remarried an unnaturally beautiful woman named Irene.

For all Irene's beauty, she had been vicious towards Dagur and Kata, agreeing with Oswald that both children were failures. Dagur was the son, but too unstable to ever be a worthy chief. Kata was merely the daughter, and although she was stable enough to be chief she was a girl and too headstrong and independent for a woman. Vorg had never thought he'd be glad to see Irene killed three years ago during one of those rare dragon attacks.

Kata had been too young to remember Sefa, and with Oswald and Irene being how they were, Dagur had taken the place of both a brother and her parents. Vorg had done his best to keep the siblings safe from their parents, and they had spent many a night in Vorg's home to avoid their own. Oswald the Agreeable might be agreeable to everyone else, but Vorg knew that Oswald spent so much time being agreeable to everyone that by the time he got back home to Kata and Dagur he was not in an agreeable mode. The scar on Kata's neck from Oswald spoke volumes about his dislike of his children.

"Dagur always took care of me," Kata murmured and let go of her collar. "Dagur's the one who taught me how to fight, how to sail, how to track dragons, how to climb a tree or a rooftop. He's always been there for me in his own way, but the one time he needed me I'm nowhere to be seen, and he paid the price for my incompetence."

"Kata, what happened to Dagur is not your fault," Vorg repeated sternly.

Kata cradled Skrilly in her arms like a babe, and when she spoke it was on a different subject. "Berserker may not receive more rain than one would expect, but it gets far more thunderstorms than it should. When I was younger, the storms used to scare me. The lightning never bothered me since it was so pretty to see it scorch across the sky in jagged flashes, but the thunder was terrifying. There had been the odd dragon attack or two that I had lived through, and the sound of the thunder reminded me of the dragons."

"Some nights I would be fine, and manage to ignore the thunder. Other times I couldn't. Rather than run downstairs to Oswald and Irene, I'd always race across the hall to Dagur's room." Kata ran her fingers down Skrilly's felt spikes on his spine, lips turned upwards at the fond memory.

"If I tried to get onto Dagur's bed while he was still asleep, he'd usually roll over and knock me off," Kata giggled. "Sometimes even when he was awake and knew it was me, he'd still push me off his bed so he could go back to sleep."

Vorg remembered. Even if the siblings were spending the night at his home, it was always Dagur that Kata ran to.

"It didn't matter whether he pushed me off accidently or purposely in the end though, because no matter what, he'd always end up waking up and ask what was going on. I'd tell him about the thunder and he'd give a big sigh, frustrated with my fearfulness but he'd still sit up and let me climb into bed next to him." Kata stopped petting her brother's toy and lowered her hand to the floorboards.

"He'd always let my curl up next to him, and when I was with him the thunder didn't seem so scary." Kata tilted her head back thoughtfully. "Dagur was always the unbeatable fearless warrior, and _nothing_ scared me when I was near him. I knew he'd always protect me, and he always did. I just couldn't protect him."

Vorg reached over and set a hand on Kata's shoulder comfortingly. Kata leaned against his large, warm hand. She gripped Skrilly in her arms and hunched her shoulders, trembling.

"I left Alvin alive so I could pay him back for my brother's death, but it's not all Alvin's fault," Kata whispered strongly. "It was the Berk riders who defeated Dagur and left him with Alvin. I need to pay Hiccup back for my brother's death."

Vorg hesitated at the vicious edge to Kata's voice. Revenge had fueled Dagur's desire to defeat Berk, and in the end it had destroyed him. He did not want Kata to make the same mistake, but now was not the time to tell her off. Challenging her now while she was in one of unstable moods would only end with another axe being thrown at him. Later he would try to clear Kata's mind and stop her from walking the same self-destructive path Dagur had.

* * *

Arin Daceson was sitting on the edge of the dinghy as he sailed over the waves. The mainsheet connected to the dinghy's sail was in one hand, and the rudder was in the other. There was a nice breeze, so Arin was letting the sail sheet out and racing across the waves of the ocean, darting between whitecaps. It was fun, and since his dinghy was made for a one-person he was alone.

There was no doubt that he was glad to have Merrik back, but Arin was wary of Merrik's dragon and couldn't understand how his friend could put such faith in a beast. Merrik's expertise in dragon's was sharper than Kata's even, and he had helped fight off the odd dragon attack so he should know how bad of an idea it was to put your faith in one. What could Merrik be thinking?

The wind slowed down, and Arin pulled in the sail in an attempt to keep his current speed. There was movement to his left, and Arin curiously looked over in that direction to see a few white sails. Sails? Hadn't the fleet returned two days ago? Who could possibly be out there?

Curious now, Arin let out the sail until it was 90° from the body of the boat. This was safety position, and this way he wouldn't have to worry about the boat sailing off by accident when he let go of the mainsheet and took out his spyglass. His spyglass, like Merrik's and Leif's, had been traded from Johann.

He raised it to one eye, and focused on the approaching ships. Oddly enough, he didn't see a single Skrill on a sail. That was weird.

He searched across the sails and finally found a crest on one of the sails colored dark green-black. Arin lowered the spyglass in shock and then raised it again to look at the crest. The crest on the sail was a pair of sabers crossed in an x shape with the swords pointed up. Two crossed swords in green. It was a crest Arin had unfortunately seen before.

"Pirates," Arin whispered and swallowed as he looked over the horizon.

There were not the normal one or two raiding ships, but an entire armada of pirates. Alvin must be supplying them with ships and weapons like he had been last time. It was the only way Arin could account for so many ships.

He lowered the spyglass to his lap, and tried to judge how fast the pirates were going. There was a southern wind that was pulling the ships directly north to the village. Because of the wind direction they were able to let the sails all the way and sail out to maximum speed.

If the wind didn't lighten up then they would likely be to the village sometime just after sunset, under the cover of darkness. Why would the pirates attack now with a full fleet? Didn't they know that Kata had managed to return with the full berserker armada, and that they now had a dragon rider?

No, Arin realized. They couldn't. Not enough time had passed. The pirates couldn't have any way to know that the Berserker's were back at full strength, and that they were walking into a battle they would obviously lose.

Arin needed to get back to the village and warn Kata what was coming. As Dagur's sister, Arin was sure she'd think up a suitably warm welcome for their visitors. He dropped the spyglass back into boat and pulled in the mainsheet. The canvas of his sail flapped about for a second and then bulged out as he successfully caught a gust of wind. His dinghy began to move.

The problem with Arin sailing in his dinghy was that his dinghy had an overall length of twelve feet, and it could be moved and handled by just himself. It was tiny and prone to capsizing. Luckily, it was equally easy for Arin to righten it – when he had the time. This was one of those times when he didn't have the time.

Arin was hiking his boat, going fast enough that the hull had raised itself half out of the water. The sail was close enough to the waves that the tip of it skimmed across the water. He was leaning over the edge that was out of the water to help counter the balance when the wind shifted directions.

It wasn't a major shift, but enough that it tugged the sail into the water and that in turn made the entire boat capsize. Arin slid across the top of the hull and right into the water. He surfaced under the sail, and was quickly tangled in the canvas.

He dived again and managed to surface next to the sail. Without the canvas in his face he could take a breath.

Capsizing was not what Arin need right now, but it seemed it was now in his plan. He needed to get to the daggerboard. A daggerboard was like a keel but removable, and it stopped the waves from pushing a boat sideways. By standing on the daggerboard, Arin could pull the ship back out of the water and righten it. All he'd need to do from there was pull in the mainsheet and keep sailing.

Arin took a breath and vied down again, swimming under the boat to come up next to the daggerboard. He half-climbed onto the daggerboard to try and righten the boat when a crossbow bolt suddenly thonked into the boat beside him. Instantly, he froze. Behind him he heard a soft chuckle, and Arin knew his blunder had cost him dearly.

When he slowly turned he saw a small skiff with four pirates in it. One of them had a crossbow, and reloaded it as Arin watched. Another was at the oars, and a third at the rudder. A fourth one was sitting by the bow next to the one with a crossbow. Someone must have seen his boat and sent one of a skiff to capture him.

"Well, well, well," the pirate sitting to one side mused. "If the Skrill painted on your sail is any indication I'd say you're a Berserker. Scrawny one, aren't you?"

Arin didn't say anything, and took quick stock of what he had. Because of his boat's proneness to capsizing, Arin had left his sword at home so he wouldn't risk losing it. There was a long dagger in his boot but that was all currently he had for weapons. There wasn't much he could do against a loaded crossbow.

"Not talking, huh?" The pirate chuckled. "You were trying to race back ahead of us and warn whoever's still on Berserk that we were coming, weren't you? I hate to say it, but you're not going to manage that. You're coming back with me."

The pirate pointed his crossbow towards Arin, and Arin reluctantly raised his hands in surrender.

* * *

 **One of the reasons why it took so long to post this new chapter is because i went back and rewrote the first 7 chapters. the general plot stays the same, but i simply went back made them better so you might want to go back and reread them if you haven't already to see the new changes.**

 **Yeah, the Berserkers found out about Berk's dragons from Johann because we all know he can't hold up to pressure, be it Toothless or Dagur growling at him. Johann did find out about the dragon's in _Dragon Flower_ after all.**

 **I have taken several years in a sailing camp with a little sunfish, and Arin's boat is based off of that. For the large number of you that aren't familiar with that I did try to explain things. Do you understand things?**


	9. Kata's Parry

Leif Daceson lay on top of a tiled roof, eyes half-closed as he lounged in the sun like a content cat. If he could purr then he would. He smiled slightly as he snuggled his head on an arm.

His content resting was interrupted suddenly by a blinding headache that appeared out of nowhere and hurt as if someone had bludgeoned him in the head. Leif hissed and jerked his head to one side as images were artificially placed in his mind. All sense of reality vanished as he was dragged into a vision.

Battle cries and screams of pain echoed in his ears, and he could almost feel the heat of multiple fires on his skin and taste the smoke and blood in the air. Images flashed through his mind in a blur. The village aflame with people fighting throughout the buildings, Berserker ships battling with other ships in the harbor, Arin gagged and bound with a sword to his throat, a man with bright green paint painted on his body is swirling stripes that looked like waves, and finally a sail with the crossed sword crest of the pirates.

The images ended suddenly as sharp as the crack of a whip, and Leif was pulled out of it. He had had enough visions by now that he knew to stay where he was until his equilibrium returned. All of his senses were hypersensitive except for his eyes, which were hopelessly blurred and dulled to the point of near-blindness.

Someone set a hand on his chest gently.

"Leif? Are you okay little bro? Leif?"

Leif knew that voice. It was Willem. Willem was with him. That was good. He raised a hand, and Willem took it.

"Was it a…?" Willem asked quietly.

Leif tightened his grip on Willem's hand for a yes. Willem tssked, and picked Leif up.

"I'll take you to Jodi's," Willem promised and hoisted his brother onto his back.

"No," Leif managed to croak. "Can't… pirates… _now_ …"

"Pirates?" Willem whispered.

Leif wrapped an arm around his brother's neck and leaned his head against his shoulder, exhausted from the strain of a vision. Willem looked over at Jodi's place some distance away, and then shook his head with a sigh. He secured his grip on his brother and quickly walked to Kata's much nearer house.

It would be too difficult to knock, so Willem nudged the door open with his foot. He was relieved it wasn't latched, and walked in. There was no sign of Kata inside, but her shield and dragon were on the table so Willem knew she had to be here.

"Kata!" Willem shouted as he shooed away her dragon and moved her stuff into a chair. "Kata come here! It's Leif!"

Five seconds later, Willem heard Kata start to troop down the stairs. Relieved, he set Leif onto the cleared table and helped him lay down. By the time Kata got downstairs Willem had already soaked a cloth in cool water and set it over Leif's eyes.

"What did he see?" Kata demanded quickly.

"He hasn't been able to say much yet," Willem admitted. "You know it takes time for the shock to wear off before he can talk, but he said something about pirates. Whatever he saw was too urgent to take him to Jodi's ward and let him recuperate. He needed to talk to you now."

"That doesn't bode well," Vorg said darkly as he quietly walked down the stairs.

Willem jumped when he heard Vorg's voice and instinctively reached over his shoulder for the sword on his back. When he saw it was only Vorg he relaxed and lowered his hand somewhat shyly. Vorg was the only adult who knew about Leif's visions. Besides Vorg, the only ones who knew about Leif's gift were Willem, Arin, Dagur, Kata, Jodi, and Merrik. They did their best to keep his sight a secret and so far they had managed it.

"Willem," Vorg said somewhat tartly, "what would you have done if it wasn't me, but another adult who didn't already know about Leif's vision? Would you have killed them rather than let them find out?"

"No," Willem responded quickly. "The rest of the village thinks that Leif is an epileptic. I'd just say that he'd had another seizure."

"And if they didn't believe you?" Vorg pushed. "Would have drawn your sword for a killing strike to prevent them from learning?"

Willem looked away pointedly, unsure how to answer the question. So far, Leif's secret had stayed within their small group. Although there had been a few close calls no one they hadn't purposefully told had found out. What would he do to keep Leif's secret a secret?

"You know how important to keep Leif's sight a secret," Vorg scolded. "A child untrained in battle that can see visions of the future? Who wouldn't want to kidnap him to have that on their side? I know that Alvin and the pirates would happily steal him and his sight. That's why it is so important no one finds out about him."

"I know that," Willem grumbled. "The less people who know about his sight, the less of a chance there is of word spreading. You don't have to lecture about my brother."

Willem looked at Leif and curled his lip back in disgust. "Leif says that he gets his visions from the Asgardian god who resurrected him, but he won't say which Æsir. I'm certain he knows. This god though obviously doesn't care much for his safety since they time when they send the visions so poorly. Leif was sitting on a roof, and when his vision hit he fell off of it. It's lucky he wasn't hurt."

"Picking a fight with an Æsir likely won't end in your favor," Vorg chided once more.

Willem bristled, and Kata cleared her throat. Both men turned her way, and Kata gave them a Dagur worthy glare. They stood down from their argument.

"Thank you," Kata snipped dryly. "Leif, can you tell me what you saw in your vision?"

"Yes," Leif said without moving. "There were pirates, a whole fleet of them. They'll be here tonight."

Kata hissed, and Vorg and Willem asked "what?" at the same time.

"Are they suicidal?" Willem demanded to no one in particular. "There's no way their soldiers can defeat ours in a full invasion. They tried that once before. If they're doing it again then they must have a hel of a new weapon."

Even as Willem began to talk, Kata stepped away from the table and started pacing like she always did when she was lost in thought. Her right arm was crossed over her chest, and her left elbow was resting on her right arm. The left hand rested on her cheek, fingers curled to the palm.

"Why would the pirates send a fleet to us?" Kata asked the air. "It doesn't make any sense. They love raiding us, but they know that in a melee battle our warriors would tear them apart. The last time they tried a frontal attack like that our armada destroyed them. Why repeat the same mistake? They would need to have a new weapon because there's no way they can defeat the armada."

Vorg knew that the new threat would distract Kata. Just like when she was facing Alvin she would forget all thoughts about her brother's fate, and be able to think clearly. Like all great chiefs, Kata had a knack for being able to think clearer the more pressure she was put under. She would not break.

"The armada," Kata repeated and stopped pacing. She turned to face Vorg and Willem. "That's it. The pirates don't know we have the armada back. They don't have a new weapon. They just believe that the Berserker armada and all of our warriors are still on Outcast Island!"

"You're right," Vorg realized. "Not enough time has passed since your defeat of Alvin for word to spread. They think they're going up against the shield-maidens and children, not the warriors."

"I'd say they're in for a surprise tonight when they're fleet attacks then," Willem smiled. "Their fleet won't even get close to the harbor."

Vorg was nodding agreement to Willem assertion when Kata interrupted them both with a sharp, "no."

The warriors looked at the young girl standing near the table, but Kata did not elaborate.

"No?" Vorg finally asked his niece. "What do you mean no?"

Kata lowered her head, and replied softly. "Uncle, it's been a month since Dagur's death. A month is just enough time for word to travel to the pirate's island, have them bring together a plan and an armada, and come here. As soon as the pirates learned Dagur was dead then began to plan this invasion. They think that without Dagur Berserk is defenseless."

"We Berserkers have made many enemies," Kata continued. "There are more tribes in the Archipelago then us, Berk, the pirates, and the Outcasts. All of them are probably thinking the same thing the pirates are, and see this as the perfect chance to wipe the Berserkers out."

"Yes," Leif interrupted. "My vision of the attack felt echoed, as if it will happen again and again. I think you're right, and it's not just the pirates who plan on attacking us."

Willem grimaced at his little brother's interruption, but supposed that it only made sense that all of Berserk's enemies would strike at once. When it rained, it truly poured.

"You sound like you have a plan Kata," Willem said instead. "What is it?"

"We're going to let the pirates land in the harbor, and let them invade the village," Kata explained confidently.

"What?" Vorg and Willem demanded again.

Kata waved them off, and finished her thought. "Once all of the pirates are in the harbor we'll use our fleet to blockade them in and kill them all. Not a single pirate is going to leave this attack alive. That should prove to everyone that although Dagur is dead, Berserk is not defenseless. We are a force to be feared. I let Dagur die, but I will not let any more of my family be killed."

Kata's plan of letting the pirates land had obvious flaws, but Vorg instantly saw the wisdom in it. If she ordered the armada to engage the pirates before they reached the harbor then the pirates would turn tail and run rather than fight the odds, and would get away. By luring them in and then cutting off their escape, Kata ensured their deaths. Not a single pirate surviving their own invasion would send a clear message to the Archipelago that the Berserkers were not to be underestimated. It should scare the other tribes out of any thoughts of planning their own invasion.

"Risky," Willem admitted, "but it might work. The pirates don't need a new weapon to take on a defenseless base, and we all know that the pirates don't stand a chance against us Berserkers in combat. It will remind everyone that just because Berk defeated us in the war two months ago we're not defenseless. Orders chief?"

Kata's reply stuttered when she realized Willem had just called her chief, but she recovered quickly. "Y-you take Leif down to Jodi's. Then bring her and come to the Great Hall. I'll announce my plan and work out the finer details there."

Willem nodded with a grin, and Kata turned to her uncle. "Vorg, spread the word that there's an invasion force coming and that I need as many of the captains to come to the Great Hall as possible to discuss our parry. There's no need for them to track down their armor right now, I just need them to get to the hall."

"Wait," Leif interrupted from where he lay on the table and he weakly raised a hand. "Kata, there's a problem."

"Of course there is," Kata sighed in exasperation. "What is it?"

"Arin," Leif said and removed the cloth from his eyes. "The pirates captured Arin when he was out waveracing. He's on their ship. We have to rescue him."

"Waveracing?" Vorg demanded. "Arin was out sailing around the whitecaps now of all times?"

"Arin couldn't have known about the pirates," Kata corrected with a slight snap to her voice. "He probably sailed right into their fleet."

Kata thought about the situation and then nodded. "I got it. Your orders don't change. The pirates love using hostages, so no doubt they'll bring Arin onto the deck of their ship. I'll tell Merrik to rescue him, and once Arin's safe they can provide cover fire and air support."

Willem let out a sigh of relief that Kata had already managed to change her plan to accommodate for Arin's rescue. Beside him, Leif opened his eyes and tried to sit up. He winced and put a hand over his eye to deal with the brightness of the sunlight that came in through the windows. A drop of blood ran from his left eye like a tear, leaving a red line on his cheek.

"Kata," Leif said seriously. "In my vision the village was burning. If you let the pirates make landfall then it could end in their favor."

"What were the fires like?" Kata probed. "Were they small and controlled, or was everything ablaze?"

"First one," Leif admitted and the tear of blood fell from his chin onto the wooden tabletop.

"It's only natural that there are some fires," Kata smiled. "If they're small and controlled then it's because the pirates don't win."

Leif lowered his head, and didn't say anything else. For once, he didn't have a sinking feeling. His vision had warned him of the disaster, and by Kata letting the pirates make landfall, ensured that the image of the village on fire would come to pass. It didn't feel like this would end in the pirate's favor, so he let Willem put him on his back and take him to Jodi without another word.

Vorg stopped Kata when she tried to move, and waited for Willem and Leif to leave before speaking up.

"Kata," he began once they did. "Your plan has merits. If it works then we will reestablish our strength and greatly eliminate the threats against us, but it is reckless. A chief shouldn't blatantly put his people in harm's way."

"You heard Leif though," Kata argued. "The pirates aren't going to be the only ones attacking us. We need to send a message to the entire archipelago. Scaring off the pirates from afar will show _them_ , but it won't show anyone else. It's like Dagur said, sometimes you just need a body count to get your point across. A 100% death rate will get the point across that we are not vulnerable."

A body count to get the point across, Vorg almost winced. Kata had obviously spent too much time with Dagur growing up. Dagur's normal combat style was reckless and impulsive, charging headlong into fights without relying on a strategy.

Kata had kept her brother stable in more ways than one. While Dagur fought with brute force and harsh attacks, Kata had learned to fight with her intellect and normally was patient and level-headed. She had balanced her brother's bloodthirst.

Together the siblings had been difficult to beat, but with her brother lost Kata was starting to cling to his memory in the worst way. In the past, she never would have suggested using a body count that might include Berserker kinsmen to get a point across. That was something Dagur would do.

"I wonder if he's in Valhalla," Kata mused unexpectedly, her mood switching as suddenly as Dagur's. "Only great warriors who die in battle can go to Valhalla. Alvin probably tortured him to death."

"Alvin said Dagur died in an escape attempt," Vorg corrected Kata gently. "If that's the case, he would have gone down fighting the Outcasts. It would have been a death worthy of Valhalla."

"Maybe," Kata whispered. "We never even got his body back…"

It troubled Vorg deeply as well that Dagur could never be given a proper funeral and find entrance into Valhalla, but he knew Kata did not have the luxury to dwell on such matters. He needed to keep Kata's fluctuating personalities stable right now.

"Kata," Vorg reminded. "You need to fetch Merrik. I'll tell as many of the captains as I can."

"Right," Kata nodded.

She grabbed her vest from the table and shrugged it on. "I'll be there as soon as I can."

Relieved, Vorg quickly left Kata's house and went down to the harbor to try and find the other captains. Once Vorg left, Kata stopped lacing up her vest. She lowered her hands to the table.

"Brother," she whispered quietly. "I won't fail you, not again. This time, I'll make sure Berserk wins. We won against Alvin and we will win against the pirates. Once they're out of the way Berk will be next. You'll be avenged brother, I promise."

* * *

 **Kata, I think I agree with Vorg. You know that some of your people will die if you let the pirates land and yet you're still going to let them? This is really dangerous. I hope you know what you're doing.**

 **Here are Leif's visions explained in more detail. They are not the romanticized version of "vision" but the nightmare type and they are seriously flawed as you'll see. His visions warning Kata of every single little trouble will not become normal, as i said they're too flawed to work as good as that.**


	10. Black Lie

Hiccup was surprised that he and Toothless had been able to make as good of time as they had, but on the second day they were at Outcast. Although he was sorely tempted otherwise, Hiccup left his shield on his back as Toothless approached the island. Steadying it on his arm would show that he didn't trust the Outcasts, and Hiccup did not need the Outcasts to distrust him.

This was actually the first time that any of Berk's riders had come to Outcast trusting Alvin and the peace treaty created two months ago with the end of the Berserker War and Dagur's reign as chief. Hiccup hoped it wouldn't end badly for him and Toothless. He was not attacked by bolas, arrows, catapults, or nets as Toothless lowered himself for a landing so Hiccup supposed that was something.

Their arrival had been seen, and Savage was waiting along with several Outcasts armed with crossbows. Hiccup noticed that there were no Berserker troops waiting with them, and now that he thought about it, there had been no blue-striped Berserker boats in the harbor. Where had they all gone?

"Savage," Hiccup greeted cautiously. "What a warm welcome."

Savage motioned the men with the crossbows to stand down with his bone club that to Hiccup still looked disturbingly like a human leg bone. Hiccup wasn't quite comfortable enough to leave Toothless's saddle.

"Where's Alvin?" He asked Savage instead. "There's something important I need to ask him."

"He's uh-asleep," Savage bluffed.

"Asleep," Hiccup repeated doubtfully. "You didn't wake him up when Toothless and I flew in?"

"Um…" Savage wasn't sure how to respond.

"And where are all of the Berserker troops?" Hiccup continued and waved a hand to the nearly empty harbor.

"Well, uh, they're, well, not here anymore," Savage stuttered around and finally answered.

"What do you mean not here?" Hiccup demanded as a sinking feeling settled into his stomach. "Where are they?"

"Gone," Savage threw his hands up in frustration. "Dagur's baby sister is the new chief and she took them back to Berserk after tearing Alvin to ribbons."

"Dagur's… Alvin… what?" Hiccup stared openly. "Uh, you mind running that by me again?"

"Dagur's sister defeated Alvin in a duel about a week ago, took her fleet as her prize, and went back home," Savage elaborated and clapped a hand to her forehead. "What's her name…? Kata I think it was?"

"Kata," Hiccup straightened in the saddle.

Dagur had accompanied his father Oswald to the annual peace treaty renewal with Berk from the age six to sixteen. Last year, when he had turned seventeen he had come as the Berserker's chief after Oswald's death. One time Dagur had been sick, so he had missed coming, but he has still come nine times. Hiccup had been told by his father to watch over him six of those times.

Two of those trips, the two easiest on Hiccup, had been when Kata had accompanied her older brother. Hiccup remembered her. She had kept Dagur relatively balanced and sane throughout the duration of the visits. Her second and last visit she had come with a tamed Terrible Terror perched on her shoulder and it was from her that Hiccup had first thought about taming dragons. He had liked Kata.

"So she's the Berserker's chief now," Hiccup said quietly and leaned back in the saddle. "She's younger than me, how did she manage to defeat Alvin?"

Savage hadn't figured that one out yet himself and helplessly shook his head. "Alvin hasn't regained consciousness since the attack."

"Is he going to be all right?" Hiccup asked with a frown, surprising himself with his concern.

"We're pretty sure," Savage said, feigning nonchalance.

Hiccup shook his head and reached into one of Toothless's satchels. The movement made the Outcasts raise their crossbows, and Hiccup held up a hand in surrender while he withdrew the rogue rider's arrow with the other.

"Since Alvin's not available, I'll speak to you Savage." Hiccup held out the arrow to Savage. "My friends and I were attacked by a rogue dragon rider about a week ago. Since Outcast is the only other island trying to train dragons I thought it would make sense to come here first."

Hiccup swung off of Toothless's saddle and walked over to Savage, holding out the arrow to him. "This is one of the arrows he was using. Do you know who it was?"

Savage was surprised that Hiccup had left Toothless's saddle, and wasn't flinching despite having several crossbows pointed at him. Toothless growled at the Outcasts with the crossbows, but Hiccup waved him down and passed the arrow to Savage.

It took but a second for Savage to recognize the cardinal and raven feathers as Merrik's. Kata was friends with Hiccup, so why would she order her only dragon rider to attack? Was Kata going to continue Dagur's war with Berk?

Savage was tempted to tell Hiccup about the owner of the arrow, but decided not to. If he did and word got to Kata, then he would be the next one she tore to ribbons. She also had her fleet back, and a dragon rider who could train more riders for her. He would just as soon not get into a war against those odds.

"Sorry," Savage shrugged and handed Merrik's arrow back to Hiccup. "I've never seen an arrow quite like this."

The Outcasts with Savage luckily hadn't recognized that it was Merrik's arrow, so they didn't say anything. This was just a little black lie to Stoick's son. It wasn't that important.

"Right," Hiccup said quietly and lowered the hand with the arrow in it.

He lowered the hand the arrow was in in frustration. This entire trip was a waste of time. If Hiccup had figured out how to train a Nightfury, then it was conceivable that someone else had learned to tame a dragon. One look proved that the Outcasts were not in any shape to launch an attack, so the rider wasn't theirs. Whose was he?

Hiccup had learned something awfully important about the Berserkers though. Kata was now chief in Dagur's place, and the Berserkers were one unified fighting force again. He remembered Kata's first visit to Berk before she had tamed her Terrible Terror.

He had played a game of Maces and Talons with her and had been surprised to discover that he couldn't beat her. Although Dagur had neither the patience nor the skill to win the game, Kata was a different story. The game was designed to test the abilities and decision making expertise of future chiefs, and Kata was a natural at it.

Her intelligence had always been a great asset, and her fighting skills had improved if she was able to defeat Alvin in a duel. She would be a dangerous opponent to go up against, perhaps more dangerous than her brother because she was relatively stable. The next move was Kata's.

What would she do with her new power as chief? Her next move might not in Berk's favor, since Hiccup knew he was the reason Dagur was dead. He had been the one to defeat Dagur in the Outcast Arena, and it had been his idea for Dagur to remain in Alvin's custody. He needed to get back to Berk and warn his father of the new situation with Kata. There was nothing more he could learn here anyway if Alvin was in a coma.

It was a much shorter visit then Hiccup planned, but he could work with it. The sun was beginning to set, and Toothless took off again. They would be spending the night on one of the usual small islands that the Berk riders stopped at on their way to and from Outcast Island.

Savage watched them fly away, and then waved off the Outcasts with him. He needed to report Hiccup's visit to Alvin. Alvin was resting in his room deep within the mountain. Bandages covered his side and wrapped his arm where Kata had drawn blood.

It was odd for Savage to see Alvin without his armor or any weapon. He'd be back on his feet within the week luckily though it would take longer for him to return for fill strength. The gash on his side would scar, but he would recover. Kata had meant for him to recover so that she could tear him apart again, and that thought terrified Savage.

"Do you have something to report Savage?" Alvin asked.

His voice was damp from the blood that had seeped into his lungs and remained there.

"Hiccup and Toothless just flew in," Savage reported with something akin to a salute. "It seems that Merrik attacked them, and Hiccup wanted to know who. He noticed the Berserkers were gone so I told him about Kata."

"You what?" Alvin demanded. "Why'n you do that?"

Savage stepped back, still scared of Alvin even in his current state. "When the boy heard, he left to report back to his father. They're already gone. I chased them off. If he goes sniffing around here then he might find Dagur, and I don't think I want Kata to find out that we've been hiding her brother from her. That's girl's still a Berserker, and of the chief's line so her berserker blood's thicker than most."

Alvin tssked, but didn't snap at Savage. He didn't want Kata to learn her brother was alive either. Savage seemed to realize that his quick wording had saved him, so he looked at the right arm that Dagur had scratched and rubbed the makeshift bandage made from a strip of tunic. Despite Alvin's claims, Savage thought that keeping Dagur alive and hidden was more trouble than it was worth. Killing him might be better, especially to prevent Kata from learning of his whereabouts.

"How is Dagur doing?" Alvin queried.

"He's regained consciousness," Savage admitted. "I don't know for how long though with his fever so high."

"Good," Alvin dismissed, overlooking Savage's reminder about Dagur's fever. "When I'm back on my feet I'd like to pay him a visit."

Savage knew what Alvin meant. He was going to pay Dagur a visit and break a few more bones as recompense for Kata's actions. Alvin would return the injuries Kata inflicted on him to her brother tenfold.

It was nothing new though, so Savage nodded agreement and finished up the report. When he was done, Alvin gave him his leave and Savage left to check in on Dagur. Hopefully, his fever hadn't killed him yet.

* * *

 **So the plot thickens. Once the pirates are dealt with i wonder what will happen to Berk. Kata is willing to send her rider against Hiccup, so who knows how much further she'll got to " _avenge_ " her brother. Alvin's going to start another war by keeping Dagur's survival a secret.**


	11. Interrogation

Arin sat in a cell on the pirate's flagship with a bored expression. He leaned up against the flat strips of green metal that made up the door, crisscrossing vertically and horizontally. There were runes engraved on bars in a language he had never seen before as if the ship wasn't from the Archipelago. This whole ship had an alien look to it. The pirate's flagship was three times the length of a normal Viking longship, and it had a pontoon the size of a longship on its port side.

When he had been brought to the ship, he remembered it having two masts and white sails painted with the pirate's crossed-sword crest. On the deck of the ship had been a symbol like a flaming fist, painted over in green artificially. It was a tribal crest of some sort that didn't look like it was from the Archipelago. Was this ship really from beyond their Archipelago?

Arin stood to try and alleviate the pressure on his wrists, wincing at the tightness of the rope that bound them. As curious as he was about this ship, he needed to focus more on escaping. These pirates were going to attack Berserk and that meant the armada would engage them. Naturally, Arin didn't want to be on the enemy flagship when the counterstrike occurred since it would be the first target.

The pirates had taken the dagger from his boot, so Arin had no way to cut the ropes. Even if his wrists were free he had no way to get out of his cell, and knew better then to think about jumping overboard and trying to swim to land. Hours had passed, and he knew the pirates had to be drawing close to Berserk. He needed a plan.

The door at the end of the hallway opened, and Arin glanced up. He watched the hallway as footsteps echoed on the wooden planking of the deck. Three pirates appeared, wearing mismatched scraps of leather, cloth, and the odd piece of metal armor. They lacked the bones worn by the Outcast tribe, and preferred green cloth over red, but were just as mismatched as Alvin's men were.

Like all pirates, these three wore green paint on their faces and bare skin. Green was the color of victory and immortality, and the pirates painted the green on themselves to evoke victory. Perhaps if Arin had been wearing green pain the pirates wouldn't have captured him. The idiotic idea that a little paint could determine who won and who lost almost made him snicker, but he stopped before he actually made a sound.

The three pirates stopped in front of his cell and one of them pulled a chain from the roof. Arin's door swung open vertically rather than horizontally, and the other two pirates approached. He watched as they approached and roughly dragged Arin out.

"Hey," Arin complained to them. "You can just tell me to move. I do know how to walk."

His comment earned him a prodding in the back with a sword hilt, and Arin walked with a hmph, lucky it hadn't been the point of a sword. His escort took him down the hallway and past more giant cells large enough to hold a dragon. All the cell doors were made of the same green metal and engraved with the same runes that his cell had been.

Arin was brought before an ornate door set with gold so it looked like there was a dragon on the door. It was very well done for the pirates, so Arin assumed that whoever had made the ship had added it. The design was a nice touch, and he glanced back at the cells that were large enough to hold dragons curiously. He looked between the members of his escort, noticing that they were scared all of a sudden. Only their superior would scare them, so this room must be the captain's quarters. It appeared he was about to meet the leader of this fleet. A plan would be nice.

The pirate in the lead knocked strongly and someone called out almost instantly to enter. With a slightly trembling hand, the pirate opened the door and ushered Arin inside. Only one of his escort accompanied him, and the other two waited outside to either side of the door. As long as they were there, he wouldn't be able to take advantage of the opportunity to bolt.

Sitting behind a desk was a man in leather armor. Bright green paint decorated his body in swirling stripes that looked like waves. There was a mismatched metal shoulder pad on his right shoulder and a dark green tunic under the armor. His eyes were as dark brown as his long and somewhat matted hair.

"Hello Berserker," the pirate greeted Arin in a calm and collected voice. "I am Fargim, the commander of this armada."

Arin bowed at the waist as well as he could in a mocking way. "It is an honor to meet you."

"I'm sure," Fargim remarked dryly. "There are some questions I have for you."

"I'm not the highest ranking Berserker back home," Arin said nonchalantly. "But I can answer any questions you have about your surrender to me."

Fargrim leaned back in surprise, and the pirate standing behind Arin stared at him as he tried to comprehend what the Berserker had just said.

"Surrender?" Fargrim asked once Arin's offer sank in. "I'm not surrendering."

He laughed after a second and shook his head. In amusement, he nodded to the pirate standing behind Arin. Arin's escort hit him in the head with the pommel of his sword and let him fall to the deckboards. The pirate who hit him grabbed the back of Arin's tunic and dragged him back to his feet, leaving Arin to look at Fargrim through sight that was now slightly blurred.

"Hey?" Arin asked in mock surprise as he looked at Fargrim though his blurred sight. "Why are there two of you now?"

Fargrim narrowed his eyes at Arin's arrogance, but did not nod to the pirate behind him to hit him again. "You misunderstand your place Berserker. I am here to ask you a few questions about your home, not for you to ask me."

Arin's sight returned to normal and he noticed for the first time the woman standing behind Fargrim.

"Who are you?" He asked her.

Fargrim nodded and motioned with a hand for the woman to step forward. She was younger then Arin had first thought and likely only about the age of Dagur.

"That is my daughter Ingrid," Fargrim introduced. "She is here to watch."

"Watch what?" Arin asked innocently.

Fargrim's lips twisted in a smile. "What happens if you don't answer my questions. You see, Ingrid here is still learning how to master the art of getting answers from prisoners."

"You mean torture," Arin corrected.

His light-humored voice had suddenly become serious. Arin had known this was going to happen the moment he had been caught, so he wasn't too surprised when Fargrim tipped his head in agreement with Arin's statement. Cautiously, Arin flashed his eyes back to Ingrid, but she didn't look like she cared about the word torture. It figured that a pirate wouldn't.

Ingrid watched him coldly with an uncaring demeanor. Her dark brown hair reached down to her shoulder blades, and was out of her face thanks to a leather headband. She didn't have bangs on the right side, but she had some on the left side that framed her face. They were tied in two braids. Like most pirate's, her build was tall and slim with an athletic build that lacked even a scrap of fat.

Pirates were based on the southern reaches of the Archipelago, and it was warm enough that they didn't need to worry about wearing clothes to stay warm. Rather, they had to worry about staying cool and not getting overheated. Like the other pirates, Ingrid had green paint on her bare skin like ribbons curling around her, and she had a lot of exposed skin.

Her top of was little more than a bra made of brown leather, and her skirt didn't even reach her mid-thigh. If she had leggings then they were even shorter. On her forearms were a pair of brown leather bracers with laces on the inner forearms, and there were wide silver cuffs on upper arms engraved with runes.

There was a buckled leather collar around her throat, and grey studs were in her ears. She wore a pair of knee-high boots made of leather laced up in the front. In addition to her clothes, she had a pair of thin belts crossed over her waist in an x-shape.

Green paint was applied to her eyelids like eyeshadow, making the gold and copper color of her irises even more brilliant. Amber eyes, Arin thought to himself, better known as wolf eyes. Those with wolf eyes were said to be natural predators and killers just like the wolves who shared their eyes. From Ingrid's stance and the coldness in her gaze, Arin thought she lived up to the reputation someone with wolf eyes was supposed to have.

What troubled Arin more than her eyes were the two 18-inch short swords clipped onto her belts, one on each side. Pirates considered woman servants and bedwarmers, inferior beings to bear their children and amuse them. Normally they were enslaved. For one to become a shield-maiden was extremely rare, and Ingrid must have incredible warrior prowess in order to have earned the right to wear her blades and stop being a slave to the men of her tribe.

"Berserker," Fargrim ordered, drawing Arin from his inspection of Ingrid. "With Alvin in control of your main fleet, how many ships remain to guard your island?"

"I don't know," Arin said stupidly. "I haven't counted them recently."

Fargrim nodded and the pirate beside Arin knocked him to the ground again. Ingrid watched impassively as Fargrim asked again and again. Two hours later, Fargrim had gotten the information he needed and Arin was dumped back in his cell.

Arin smiled to himself, wincing at the pain from his split lip. His ribs had undoubtedly been cracked so he knew better then to laugh and damage them more. It was still hard not to. Fargrim had no idea that Arin had lied about the number of troops defending the island. Now the pirates, believed that the Berserker's fleet was not only on Outcast but that the island itself was relatively defenseless. By taking a beating before leaking the false Intel, it had become credible.

Well Kata, Arin thought smugly as he took shallow breaths to lessen the pressure put on his lungs. Thanks to the false Intel, you've been set up quite nicely, and the pirates are going to arrogantly waltz onto the island. Whatever her plan was should be able to work now. He hoped it worked, and Arin hoped that the plan involved rescuing him.

* * *

 **Hiccup is now flying back from Outcast to Berk, and since nothing is going to happen on his end the next few chapters will be the Berkersers dealing with the pirates. Before too long, the views will no longer be split between the Berserkers and Berk because they'll both be on Berk. There is importance to this fight besides introducing Ingrid's character, but mostly the aftermath.**

 **Yeah, the pirate's have a Dragon Hunter ship. I'm not sure if i described it as well as i could, so if you have suggestions i will hear you out.**


	12. Attack!

Arin stood on the deck of the pirate's giant ship, wrists still bound with rope, gagged with a strip of cloth. He could see Berserk looming closer, and he wondered why the Berserker fleet hadn't already engaged them. What was Kata's plan? Did she have a plan? She better have a plan.

"Father," a voice announced behind them.

Fargrim, standing behind Arin, turned to face the speaker. Arin tilted his head back to see Ingrid calmly walking up. Her twin shortswords tapped against her thighs, and she walked with her arms crossed behind her back.

"It appears the Berserkers have spotted us," Ingrid looked out over the bow and both Fargrim and Arin followed her action.

Fires had lit up around the village, and Arin thought he could hear shouting carried out to them on the wind.

Fargrim smiled, "excellent. It looks like we've caught them completely by surprise."

Arin sighed. What was Kata thinking, letting the pirates come so close? She should have deployed the armada already to chase them off. Why wasn't she summoning the fleet? Unless, no way, had the Berserkers really been caught napping?

Surely Leif would have had a vision to warn them about the pirates, or something would have tipped them off. What if there was no vision though? Leif didn't _get_ visions though. He was _given_ them by the Asgardian who resurrected him, whichever god that was. Odin didn't approve of the Asgardian helping Leif so the only time he could send Leif a vision was when Odin wouldn't notice, and when there was something worth warning him of. Both conditions had to be met. Relying on Leif's visions was dangerous because they wouldn't warn of every disaster.

What if Leif hadn't gotten a vision? What if the Berserkers really had been caught unaware? With this new super ship the pirates had, they could be decimated. Arin had lied about the numbers of Berserkers currently there, but it might not matter if the pirates managed to strike first.

He could do nothing but watch as the pirate's fleet landed and the crew began to run to the village. Arin hung his head, and the deject movement elicited a smile from Ingrid.

"It seems without your deranged leader your no threat," Ingrid taunted him.

Arin didn't answer, but Ingrid still looked away, pleased. This was Ingrid's first time in actual combat, and she needed to do a good job here. If she didn't then she might lose her rank as a shield-maiden and go back to being a slave of the men. She had to succeed here to keep her freedom.

"Ambush!" One of the pirates on the flagship suddenly shouted as loud as he could.

Fargrim, Ingrid, and Arin all turned to look at him and the pirate pointed over the stern of the ship. Ingrid ran to the upper deck and looked over the back of the ship. She froze, looking in shock at the sight before her. An entire armada had appeared out of nowhere and blockaded the bay, and that armada had Skrills painted on their sails.

"The armada's here!" Ingrid called to her father as she ran back to him, jumping down the staircase. "It's here after all. We've been boxed into the harbor!"

Fargrim stared at his daughter, jaw opened slightly in surprise, and there was a sudden increase of the noise on the shore. He whipped around and ran to the bow of the boat. More fires had been lit, and there were screams and sounds of battle. It was not just shield-maidens and children as they had been told. Slowly, Fargrim straightened and turned back to Arin. Arin might have smiled had he not been gagged, but he was still relieved. Kata had a plan after all, and if her plan was to draw the pirates in to kill them off it was working wonderfully.

"Liar," Fargrim whispered to Arin and then suddenly closed the distance and dragged Arin into the air by the collar of his tunic. "You liar! You said the armada wasn't here!"

Arin shrugged as well as he could since his feet weren't touching the ground, and Fargrim threw him backwards in disgust. Since Arin couldn't catch himself he landed hard on his back, head banging against the deck.

"Father, orders," Ingrid asked, and when Fargrim didn't look away from Arin repeated herself. "Captain! What are your orders?"

"Surrendering would be a good place to start," someone called out to Fargrim.

Everyone looked up, and they were stunned to see a red and black dragon flying overhead. Sitting on the dragons back in a saddle was a Berserker with a recurve bow. He had an arrow nocked on its string and was pointing it at Fargrim.

"That's the only way any of your men are going to survive," Merrik added to Fargrim. "You lot fell right into Kata's plan."

Fargrim wrenched Arin to his feet by his collar and pinned the pre-teen to his chest. He put his sword on Arin's neck, and Arin cringed a little, still gagged with his hands behind his back. Merrik drew his arrow back a little more in warning, but he still wasn't used to shooting from dragonback and wasn't sure that he could hit the pirate without hurting Arin.

"Release him," Merrik ordered Fargrim, "and surrender pirates. You've already lost."

"Never," Fargrim snarled, "never!"

"Suit yourself," Merrik shrugged and released his arrow.

He knew it was too dangerous for him to actually target Fargrim, but he had no qualms about shooting near him. As he expected, Fargrim flinched away when Merrik's arrow raced by his ear and got one of his crewmates in the throat. Arin was able to take advantage of Fargrim's grip loosening and slip free.

Ingrid narrowed her eyes when she saw Arin bolt towards the rider, and drew her short swords as she ran at him. The dragon soon stopped her by spewing blue-silver fire, and Ingrid raised a hand to shield her eyes. It was brilliantly bright, and the fire crackled and jumped as if it was alive, made of glittering free-floating embers more then an actual flame. Fighting dragons was not in Ingrid's field of expertise, and she stepped back rather then try to jump through the fire. She raised her eyes from the hissing and spitting fire to see Arin was sitting behind the Berserker archer on the dragon and the dragon was spreading its wings.

"Stop them!" Fargrim shouted.

Ingrid could do nothing but watch as several of the crossbowmen took aim and fired. The archer and his dragon took off and dodged them all, making straight back to land. She slammed her open palm against a mast as their hostage escaped, and then ran across the deck of the ship to relay her father's orders to shoot that dragon down.

Arin clung to Merrik as his dragon sheared hard away from the crossbow bolts.

"You all right?" Merrik tossed over his shoulder at Arin.

Arin reached up and pulled off the gag, letting it drop around his neck. "Nothing Jodi can't fix. What's the plan exactly?"

"No survivors," Merrik said somewhat darkly.

"No survivors," Arin repeated. "That's Kata's plan? Well, it looks like it's working, but that sounds more like a Dagur plan."

"I know," Merrik sighed. "I'll drop you off with Leif and the others not fighting. Jodi will be able to patch you up there."

"No way," Arin complained. "I want to help fight the pirates to!"

"You're injured," Merrik said rationally as they flew inland. "You have neither weapon nor armor, and you don't know the details of the plan. All you'll do is get in the way and the plan is for there to be only pirate casualties."

Arin's chest did hurt from the ribs that had been damaged, so he sighed and fell quiet. Merrik took it to mean that his point had been accepted and nudged Skye to turn downward where the other civilians were taking shelter away from the village. With Arin safe, all that was left was to take control of the flagship and stain the blue sea red.

Ingrid looked out over the clear night sky, seeing the dragon and its riders soar away safely by the light of a full moon. They ducked beneath the tree line of the forest, and Ingrid turned back towards the shore, clenching the hilts of her short swords. A few stray fires had sprung up, but it was impossible to tell how the fight was going from the shouting screams and sound of blades clashing.

She swallowed when she saw a Skrill sail amid the pirate's and realized that the flagship was no longer surrounded by pirate ships. Their pirate escort had been destroyed, swept away by the Berserker ships in a matter of minutes. The pirates specialized in hit-and-runs, or lightning strikes and raids against soft targets. They couldn't win against the Berserkers, the most powerful and fearsome army in the Archipelago, in full-out war!

Ingrid backed up against one of the masts, knowing that this attack had failed. It had been a terrible plan to being with now that Ingrid thought about it. The boats by the shore with the landing parties were empty, so it was safe to assume that their crews were dead already. There was still the line of Berserker ships blockading the bay and sinking any craft who came near them while others of the fleet eliminated the few remaining ships.

There was a flash overhead and suddenly one of the pirate's on the flagship fell back with an arrow in his shoulder. Ingrid looked up as the rider with the bow returned, now the only rider on his dragon. He drew back another arrow and released, killing the pirate he had just injured. It didn't appear that the Berserkers were taking prisoners. His dragon spat a fireball on one of the few remaining longships with the flagship, sending it up in sparking, glittering embers.

There was a sudden shout that they were being boarded, and Ingrid whipped around to face the new threat as a Berserker cut down the pirate who had shouted the alarm. Her father started to call out orders to repel the intruders and try to get the flagship out of the bay even if it meant ramming the fleet guarding the exit, and then suddenly fell quiet. Ingrid didn't instantly understand why her father had fallen quiet and she looked over her shoulder.

Her father was just standing there, and it took Ingrid's eyes a second to see the arrow embedded through his throat.

"Father?" Ingrid whispered.

Then her father crumbled to the ground, and red spread along the deck, adding even more blood to the brown wood. Ingrid looked at him, and then raised her eyes. The archer on his dragon was back and he was raising another arrow to shoot yet another pirate as he had just shot her father. She looked from left to right, but there didn't appear to be a way out of this and the Berserkers weren't stopping their killing.

"What to do," Ingrid whispered, "what should I do?"

She backed up against the railing of the ship, hesitant still.

"Son of a," she swore and leaped over the railing of the ship into the sea.

Merrik glanced at the railing of the ship, thinking that he had seen someone there. There didn't seem to be anyone though, so he looked back to the battle only to find that the battle here was over. One of the Berserkers waved that they had command of the flagship's bridge and were going to start heading below deck. He returned the wave and then headed to the mainland to reinforce Kata and the others on land.

A few fires had sprang up on the mainland, and there wasn't enough light to tell the attacks apart. Merrik narrowed his eyes to try and make out the people fighting in front of the fires as he raised his bow. Where was Kata? He stopped looking and tried to listen, then directed Skye towards the loudest sounds of battle.

"Oh for the love of Odin," Merrik sighed, "or rather I should say for the love of Loki. Kata you've done it again."

Kata was in the middle of one of the few remaining skirmishes on the mainland, and there didn't appear to be any other Berserkers with her. There were over a dozen bodies, and the remaining pirates facing off looked hesitant about engaging her. She had managed to scare the pirates enough that when they saw Merrik fly over they scattered. He shot one in the back with his bow as Skye folded up her wings and landed besides Kata.

"Are you okay?" Merrik asked her curiously.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Kat asked, breathing ragged.

Merrik eyed her curiously, seeing that she had lost her daggers and must have used up her throwing blades because she didn't have any palmed. Although her shield was still on her back, Trick was nowhere to be seen and she was holding an axe. It was a double-bladed axe with one blade up and the other down, and Merrik recognized that it was one of Dagur's.

How she had gotten one of his axes he couldn't begin to guess, but she looked fine overall. Her clothing and hair were bloody, but it didn't seem like she was severely injured. She had a somewhat demented look as she gripped Dagur's axe in both hands, and Merrik couldn't help but think she looked just like Dagur had last year when he had been fighting pirates before he had killed Oswald. There was one difference though.

"Your hands are shaking," Merrik said softly.

His soft words seem to make her eyes focus and she looked up at Merrik. She looked at the axe in her hands and then down at her bloodstained form and the bodies around her. Merrik shook her head when he realized she was confused and didn't remember killing them. Kata was Dagur's sister, but she wasn't Dagur. Dagur's hands wouldn't be shaking. He was a little glad that Kata's were.

"The battle's mostly over," Merrik informed her. "We have command over most of their fleet, and we are starting to get control over the flagship. Arin's safe with Leif and the other children, and no ships have made it past our fleet's blockade. They know the attack's fallen apart and are trying to break away."

"So we're winning," Kata said softly and lowered the axe. "The plan's working. Make sure our ships hold the line to the bay so none of the pirates escape. I'll assemble some of the others and start sweeping the island. Tell some of the troops you find to go reinforce Jodi and the others with the children. If the pirates scatter it will increase the likelihood of someone stumbling across them."

"I'll head to Jodi first then," Merrik thought aloud, "and then to Vorg."

Kata nodded and Skye took off. She watched him for a few seconds and then looked back down at the axe in her hands. Her hands were shaking. Dagur's hands wouldn't be shaking. Weak, she thought to herself and tightened her hand on the wooden shaft of the axe to try to get them to hold still.

She managed it with effort and then ran between the buildings to find Willem and his squad. The pirates' attack had been broken, but they were still going to have a lot of strays to hunt down.

* * *

 **Short and not as detailed as it could be. I actually want to get past this fight scene, and move onto the next stage of my story which happens when Kata visits Berk. I hope it's not too rushed though. This just isn't a very important battle in the overall plot of the story.**


	13. Aftermath

Ingrid treaded water beneath the dock of the Berserker's harbor the following morning as the Berserkers began to clean up the mess left by the pirates. She could smell the smoke from the bodies that the Berserkers were burning, and others were working to dredge sunken ships from the harbor. The dragon and its rider had gone out to scout, and others were still combing the island for stray pirates. They were determined that it be a 100% kill ratio.

As one of those being hunted, Ingrid had no idea what to do. She had to get out of here, but was it safe for her to return to Haven, the pirate's island? The pirate queen wouldn't be pleased to hear of the failed attack, and Ingrid was certain she'd end up a slave again. If she stayed here and was caught though she'd be dead. Which did she prefer, enslavement or death?

Someone walked across the dock overhead and she sank a little deeper into the water. She was glad that she still had her shortswords clipped to her belts, but also cross at them because their weight was making it difficult for her to tread water silently. The person walking overhead stopped right above Ingrid, and she held her breath.

"Where's the chief?" The person standing above Ingrid called out.

"Village," a Berserker on a boat called back. "Try the Great Hall. That's where Jodi's looking at the wounded."

"Don't tell me Jodi has to stitch her up again," the Berserker on the dock sighed.

"Not sure, Willem," the one on the boat admitted, "but the chief seemed to be walking fine."

Willem rolled his eyes. "I guess I'll start there. Thanks!"

Willem walked back along to the docks to the mainland, unaware that beneath his feet Ingrid was exhaling in relief. He had thought that Kata might be overlooking the clearing of the bay or checking out the flagship they had managed to capture, but it seemed he had walked all the way down here for nothing. There was relative little damage to the village other than red stains coloring the ground or huts, and Willem was relieved that the fires and pirates had done minimal damage. Although there were plenty of injuries, there were only four deaths on the Berserkers side.

The Great Hall overlooking the village was full, and Willem was greeted warmly. He saw Jodi eye him when he entered, and Willem shyly looked away. His right arm was in a sling and there were bandages around his forehead. Jodi's orders to Willem were rest, but he was still helping look over repairs to the village. Going against Jodi's orders was dangerous.

There was no sign of Kata in the crush of people, but Willem saw his youngest brother sitting at one of the tables with papers set around him. Willem approached Leif, curious if he knew something about Kata's whereabouts. Leif didn't look away from the papers, scrolls, and hand-bound journals in front of him.

"Did something happen to Drake's records?" Willem asked Leif in surprise when he recognized the papers.

"They got dropped," Leif replied and shifted around a few more papers, "and now they're out of order. I'm reorganizing them before Kata notices."

Willem sat next to his brother and watched him sort the papers. Drake was Oswald the Agreeable's Grandfather, or Dagur and Kata's great-grandfather, and a past chief of the Berserkers who had lived about a century ago. He was the first Berserker chief to harness a Skrill and use it in battle. Stories were still told about "Berserker fleets attacking behind harnessed dragons that brought down lightning from the sky, and destroyed everything in their path."

Those stories were about Drake, and he was the one who had made the Skrill the symbol of the Berserkers. His favorite Skrill would actually sit beside his throne and let Drake pet it. It was said that his Skrill had scars from a Monstrous Nightmare on its left wing, and it was after the Skrill was recovering from that fight Drake had found it and worked to nurse it back to health.

It had stayed with Drake even after it had healed and fought to protect him, but had vanished a decade later in the middle of a fight. The last that had been seen of it was it fighting three Nightfuries at once. No one knew what happened to Drake's first Skrill.

"Dagur thought his Skrill was Drake's first Skrill," Leif remarked absentmindedly, startling Willem. "No one knows how long a Skrill can stay safely frozen in the ice for, so it is possible they were one and the same despite being almost a century apart. According to Dagur, his Skrill did have scars on its left wing from a Monstrous Nightmare."

"How did you know I was thinking about that?" Willem asked his little brother in dark annoyance.

Leif shrugged and continued sorting through Drake's notes silently. Much of the notes were on Skrill, but there were entries on dozens of other dragons. The dragon notes were organized into the same classes as Bork had organized his, and there were dragons in Drake's notes Bork didn't have record of a they preferred a warmer climate. On the flip side, the colder climate dragons were only in Berk's notes and not in Drake's. Some of the journals were Drake's personal dairies with a record of day-to-day life. One scroll made of several sheets of loose-leaf was actually coded, and no one had been able to decode it yet.

"There," Leif sat up straight as he finished sorting the loose pages. "They're all here, and I think they're in the right order. Dagur's Skrill did instinctively like him and if you go through the records, Dagur does look a lot like Drake. The Skrill probably thought Dagur was Drake's son, which wasn't very far off."

"There you are Leif," someone said and walked up behind the two of them. "Is that Drake's records?"

Leif nodded and finished putting everything back into its satchel. He held it above his head over his shoulder, and Kata took it from him with a bandaged hand. There were more bandages around her chest, and she was favoring her right leg.

"Ah Kata," Willem smiled, "I was looking for you down by the bay. I have my report from yesterday's battle."

"I'm going to put Drake's notes back in my room," Kata told him. "You can tell me as I walk."

"Right," Willem agreed, "see you Leif."

Leif nodded absentmindedly, and looked away distantly. After they left, the child stood and walked to the doorway of the Great Hall, looking out over the village. His special eyes the Asgardian had enchanted allowed him to see distortions in the air as a winged being flew around the village to collect the last few souls. The being flew above the buildings and looked directly at Leif, and Leif calmly returned the winged woman's gaze.

She was holding her shield in her hands upside down, and inside it were several lights. The Valkyrie looked away from Leif after a few seconds and flew upwards, presumably to take the souls she had picked to Valhalla. Leif calmly walked down the carved stone steps towards the village, supposing that it was a good thing there was only one Valkyrie present. Once after a battle, he had seen four Valkyries collecting souls.

He heard the sound of wingbeats again and looked up patiently, wondering if the Valkyrie had returned and was going to ask how Leif could see her. Some of the immortals did that. It was no Valkyrie though, only Merrik with his dragon.

"Leif," Merrik called down, "Where's the chief?"

"She's putting Drake's notes back in her room!" Leif projected his voice and responded without adding emotion to his words. "What is it?"

"Visitors!" Merrik warned him and pointed behind him to the North.

Leif turned towards the North even though there was no way he could see anything, and Merrik shook his head.

"They'll be here the day after tomorrow I think," Merrik told him, "three longships. It doesn't look like a war party."

Then Skye glided in the direction of Kata's house, and Leif looked after him. Who was coming to Berserk now?

Skye landed on the ground in front of Kata's place, and Merrik dismounted quickly and ran inside. The door was open and Kata was sitting in front of the hearth polishing the axe she had ended up using during the pirate's attack. Drake's notes sat on the table in their satchel to be put up later. She looked a little surprised when Merrik entered, and Trick stirred from his position on the table.

"Kata," Merrik said, glad that he wasn't out of breath. "We have more visitors coming."

"Now what?" Kata demanded. "Can't we get any peace and quiet?"

"Apparently not," Merrik rolled his eyes. "Three longships inbound, two days out. Their sails had a black snowflake on it."

"Oh," Kata lowered her brother's axe, "them."

"Them?" Merrik asked. "Are you expecting them?"

"The snowflake crest," Kata sighed. "It's the symbol of the Northlander tribe of the Shivering Shores. Oswald had an arrangement with them, but Dagur broke it off when he became chief. It seems with Dagur gone, Arngrim Dammen thinks he suddenly has rights to it again."

"Arngrim Dammen?" Merrik asked. "First, what arrangement did they have?"

"Arngrim Dammen is the younger brother of the chief of the Northlanders," Kata explained with a sigh. "Oswald set up an alliance with them shortly before Dagur killed him. Because Dagur broke off the agreement, the alliance was never finalized."

"What's so bad about an alliance?" Merrik asked curiously, "they're a new ally."

"The alliance was supposed to be solidified with my marriage to their Arngrim," Kata muttered and set the axe in her lap.

"Oh," Merrik said after a few seconds ticked by. "I see why you're not thrilled."

"The Northlander Tribe are traders that deal in furs, dragons and dragon eggs," Kata said softly. "They're rich and have contacts with many other tribes because of their occupation, so they are worthy allies. However, there are some members of the tribe that aren't afraid to stoop to devious means to get the items they want if you aren't willing to sell them."

"What about Arngrim?" Merrik asked softly, "how is he?"

"The Northlander tribe dangerous allies," Kata said softly off topic. "Dagur learned something about Arngrim Dammen that made him break off the agreement with them when he became chief."

"What did he find out?" Merrik knew he wasn't going to like what he was going to hear, and he was right.

Kata didn't look up from the fire as she spoke. "Arngrim Dammen has had three wives already, and they're all dead."

Merrik couldn't actually manage to say anything and he stood in the doorway stupidly.

"Var Dammen, Arngim's brother and the Northlander chief, likely thinks that with Dagur gone I have to marry Arngrim," Kata chuckled softly. "He and his people wouldn't be able to grasp the concept that a woman could rule effectively. Not all of their tribe is bad, but Arngrim… I've only met him once and he's not a person I could ever trust. If our message with the pirates goes correctly then we won't have to worry about any more wars, but Arngrim likely won't be the only muttonhead coming here after me."

"I can see why," Merrik said, surprising Kata. "You're the only heir to the Berserkers now, and we are the best warriors in the archipelago. Besides, you're beautiful."

Merrik realized what he had said a moment later and turned red, looking away from Kata when she tilted her head up from the axe to him.

"Anyway," Kata continued, speaking slowly when Merrik didn't say anything more. "Let them approach. I'll turn Arngrim away. Right now I'm too busy protecting my tribe to worry about marrying someone, and even if I was going to get married I'd marry someone I want, not him."

"Do you want me and Skye to be there to greet them, or not?" Merrik asked seriously.

"Be there, both of you," Kata ordered, sounding like a chief again. "With a person like Arngrim, only a show of strength is going to get through to him. Word will spread that we have dragon riders no matter what, so we might as well put on a show."

"I don't remember Arngrim," Merrik said softly. "Where did you meet him?"

"I went with Dagur twice when he and Oswald traveled to Berk to renew the annual peace treaty signing," Kata reminded him. "Arngrim was there the second time, right after I first tamed Trick, and he was interested in buying Trick from me so that he could sell him as an exotic pet. Shortly before his ship left port, Trick disappeared, and Dagur found Trick in a cage on Arngrim's ship. He managed to free Trick without Arngrim being any the wiser, and Dagur muttered something about throwing an axe at Arngrim's head next time he saw him."

"Things are going to get interesting again," Merrik sighed. "And to think, we only have a few days to take a breath."

"Until the Archipelago learns that neither the Berserkers nor I need Dagur to be strong," Kata agreed and stood.

She walked over and set Dagur's axe on the table respectfully.

"I wish he was here though," she whispered quietly.

"You're not the only one who misses that lunatic," Merrik assured her in a lighthearted tone. "But I'm sure he's fine, and knowing him, he's probably in Valhalla."

Kata wasn't sure if Dagur was in Valhalla, but if he wasn't then she knew the perfect way to grant him access – a victory is his name. She also knew the perfect target, and the perfect people to kill. Stoick and Hiccup were responsible for Dagur being left with Alvin, and then for Dagur dying in Alvin's custody. Their deaths, and Berk's demise, was the perfect way to make sure Dagur was avenged.

Kata didn't respond to Merrik's comment, and that didn't make Merrik feel at ease.

* * *

 **I think Ingrid's the only pirate still alive, and i'm not sure how long she's going to stay alive. Arngrim Dammen is a character from the comics that i am using, and just putting a bunch of stuff together. If anyone has a better symbol to represent the tribe that lives in the farthest north on the Shiverign Shores then a snowflake bounce the idea off me. I'll likely use it... just not a dragon. Too many tribes have a dragon symbol already.**

 **The next chapter is split between Hiccup's POV and Dagur's. We've heard plenty about Dagur second-hand, but this is the first time we see what's happening through his eyes. I will tell you that Alvin has not been treating him as an honored guest and being tortured for a month has... skewed his personality a little.**


	14. Wishful Thinking

Hiccup exhaled in when he saw Berk up ahead, and Toothless seemed to take a breath as well. The two of them had managed to make it back to Berk ahead of schedule, and both were glad to be back. Toothless circled town once so Hiccup could overlook it and make sure everything was okay, and then landed in the main plaza.

Toothless's circle had drawn attention, and a crowd gathered near the two of them with amazing speed. Hiccup was surprised by the attention, but didn't get a chance to process it before the crowd parted and his father walked over to him.

"Hiccup," Stoick greeted in relief. "You're all right."

"Yeah dad, I'm fine," Hiccup glanced at the crowd as he dismounted from Toothless. "Where are the other riders?"  
"Out patrolling," Stoick answered briskly and glowered at Hiccup.

Hiccup didn't understand what he had done to upset his father until he recalled the fact that he had left for Outcast without telling anyone beforehand.

"And Astrid?" Hiccup asked quickly.

Stoick shook his head, and Hiccup looked down.

"Dad," he said softly, "about my trip."

"Yes," Stoick agreed, "about your trip."

Stoick eyed the crowd silently, and they dispersed. He waited until the crowd left, and Hiccup spoke up before Stoick could try and scold him.

"Dad, I know what I did was reckless, but I needed to find out about that rogue rider," Hiccup cautioned his father and riffled through one of Toothless's satchels until he withdrew the arrow fletched with raven and cardinal. "Outcast is the only island we know of that's currently training dragons, so it was my only lead."

"So you went by yourself without telling anyone?" Stoick demanded.

"I didn't want to leave Berk defenseless," Hiccup shrugged. "That rogue rider attacked us on his chief's orders, so it wasn't random. He could have come back at any time, and he might not have come alone. Besides, if I had told everyone they would have come even though I said no. They do that."

Hiccup had a point about his friends, but that hardly made up for the danger he had put himself in.

"And what if Alvin had been behind the rogue rider and he attacked you when you went there?" Stoick asked. "He didn't, did he?"

"I wouldn't say I got the warmest welcome, but they didn't attack me," Hiccup assured his father. "The rogue rider didn't appear?"

"No sign of him," Stoick said, and kept speaking when Hiccup tried to add a comment. "Hiccup, you can't just go off like that, even if you left a note. You think I liked finding a note that said if you're not back in a week that Alvin's betrayed us and captured you?"

"No, I suppose not," Hiccup admitted, "but dad, about Outcast."

"Did they know anything about the arrow?" Stoick continued.

"No," Hiccup said again, "they had never seen it before."

"So that trip was not only an unnecessary risk, it was fruitless in the end," Stoick shook his head.

"The Berserkers are gone," Hiccup said quickly when Stoick took a breath.

As Hiccup had hoped, his words made his father pause. "Gone? What do you mean gone?"

"I mean they're gone," Hiccup shrugged. "They're ships weren't in Outcast's bay, and Alvin is recovering from injuries so he can't even get out of bed. Their new chief took them back."

"The Berserker's chief?" Stoick demanded, thinking instantly to Dagur even though he knew Dagur was dead and that was impossible.

"It's Kata dad," Hiccup said seriously. "She's the new Berserker chief."

"Kata," Stoick remembered Dagur's little sister and exhaled a little. "Well, she isn't much like her brother."

"I wouldn't be too sure," Hiccup warned. "In order to get the Berserker fleet to follow her again, she fought Alvin in single combat. Dad, she beat him. She's the reason Alvin can't even stand, and she left Alvin alive when she could have killed him because she wanted to come back later and tear him apart again. Dagur died under Alvin's watch and she remembers it."

"And Berk is the reason Dagur was placed in Alvin's custody," Stoick understood.

Hiccup nodded seriously. "I don't know what Kata's going to do next, and if she really is striking out for vengeance on her brother's behalf Berk would be her next target."

"You could be right," Stoick said softly after thinking for several long seconds. "We might have to deal with the Berserkers and this rogue rider's chief at the same time."

"A war on two fronts," Hiccup sighed, hating the feel of the word _war_ on his tongue.

"Maybe not," Stoick assured him. "What happens next depends on Kata, and I remember her. I would like to think that she would not destroy so many lives so blatantly in open war. She is far more rational then Dagur ever was."

"You're right dad," Hiccup agreed, clinging to that hope that there would not be another war.

Hiccup found it ironic, but he realized he was thinking that it might be better if Dagur wasn't dead. If Kata was killing to avenge him, then learning Dagur was alive should cool her righteous fire. What happened next truly depended on Kata.

* * *

The stone cell Dagur the Deranged had been thrown into after his "death" was damp as well as cold, and the air was stale. Dagur's arms were shackled above his head, and he was sitting on the floor only semi-conscious. He had lost the feeling in his left leg some time ago due to it being broken several times, and Dagur wished he was back on Berserk where Jodi was. She'd have fixed up his leg easily.

Originally it had been broken when the Outcast's arena had collapsed and Dagur, the Nightfury, and several of his men and fallen. Amid the chaos of the Whispering Deaths flying around and the rush of adrenaline, Dagur hadn't realized it had been broken until after he had been put in his first cell. It had been ignored the first month of his captivity as he had, and he had tried to split it himself.

After Dagur had escaped his cell and tried to make it to the harbor, he had been caught and put in this new cell. He was alone and isolated, and Alvin had told him that the entire Archipelago thought that he was dead, even Kata. Shackled to the wall as he was, he could do little, and he realized only then how easy it had been for him to escape the first time. Alvin had set him up and then taken advantage of the situation.

Since everyone thought Dagur was "dead," Alvin no longer had to mind his manners around Dagur. One of the first things he had done was rebreak Dagur's left leg to prevent him from trying to escape again. Dagur had done a lot to earn Alvin's ire, not in the least being attacking him with the Skrill and then taking over Alvin's island and troops.

Dagur coughed moistly, tasting blood in his mouth. He could feel the heat on his face, despite the chills that made him shiver. Because he had grown up with Jodi, Dagur knew that wasn't a good combination. He knew he was sick, and his limbs felt weak as paper. What could he do? He was shackled to a wall and since everyone thought he was dead Alvin could do whatever he wanted.

His dark red hair had been cut short and messy and he had been stripped of his weapons, boots, helmet, and the armor he had worn. The sleeves and kilt of his outfit had been torn off back when everyone thought he was alive to try to help with the splint that he had never gotten a chance to redo.

During his escape attempt, he had fallen and deeply gouged his right arm on the black stones. Despite his attempt to keep the wound clean, Dagur could tell from the needles of pain near the injury and smell that it was infected. The strips of cloth he had torn from his clothing to try and wrap the injury were caked with blood and hung loosely, starting to fall off. There was a pain in his chest that came from bruised and cracked ribs.

He was a mess although ironically, Alvin had let Dagur keep the chief's belt. If Oswald saw Dagur in this shape he'd probably say that it served Dagur right for killing him. Oswald's death was his own fault. If Dagur hadn't killed Oswald then Oswald would have killed Kata. It hadn't been hard for Dagur to decide which one he had wanted to live.

At least Kata was all right. He'd placed her in charge of Berserk when he left to go to Outcast and retrieve the Skrill Alvin had caught. She would be all right and he wasn't worried about Berserk's safety as long as she was in command because Dagur knew that Kata was capable of a lot more than someone her age should be. When push came to shove, she'd have her blades in her hands and a confident smile that she had the situation under control.

Willem was still on Berserk to, and so were Jodi and Leif. Kata and Berserk would be fine. Dagur was the one who wouldn't be. What would kill him first, the infection or the fever? Or would Alvin just put him out of his misery? Everyone thought he was dead, so Dagur no longer believed someone would find him and free him.

This was because of Hiccup. Hiccup was the one who had defeated him and then suggested letting Alvin keep Dagur in custody. Despite his thoughts, Dagur didn't really have the energy to conjure up any hatred against Berk's runt. It was all Hiccup's fault. All because of Hiccup.

He heard the sound of the door that lead out of the mountain open and then slam shut, but Dagur didn't glance up. It was probably just Outcasts here to feed him. Maybe when they unshackled his arms so he could eat he could fix the bandages on his arm so they weren't hanging so loose.

The footsteps stopped in front of his cell, and Dagur raised his head slightly as the door opened. He froze when he saw the identity of his visitors, and his ragged breath caught. His first instinct was that his fever had risen to the point where he was hallucinating, but that hope soon vanished when Alvin walked over to him and grabbed him by the front of his tunic, dragging him into the air.

"'ello Dagur," Alvin greeted him.

"Alvin," Dagur tried to say, but slurred the word from his fever.

Alvin dropped him to the ground, and Dagur's arms hurt as they took the force of his fall, still shackled in place. It had been over a week, or at least Dagur guessed it had been over a week since he couldn't accurately tell time, since Alvin had last come to visit him. Normally he came every few days, and Dagur wondered what the delay had been.

"You sister is a pain," Alvin growled.

Sister? Dagur glanced up with his green eyes, not comprehending what Alvin had just said. Did he mean Kata? How could he mean Kata? She was back home!

Alvin watched as the mention of Kata sank through Dagur's fever-clouded senses and the young chief tightened his fingers to palms already covered in crescent-shaped scars from him digging his fingernails into the skin.

"She really is fast on her feet," Alvin continued, knowing it was upsetting him, "faster than I thought she was."

"You're injured," Dagur muttered, seeing the bandages on his arm, and then he laughed. "You're injured. Kata's better then she gets credit for."

Alvin kicked Dagur in the chest at the reminder of his defeat by Kata's hands and thought he might have heard another of Dagur's ribs crack. Dagur didn't say anything else, nor did he raise his head again.

"Well," Alvin said smugly. "She has gone with your fleet, and she's still thinks you're dead."

The implications of that didn't clarify instantly, but Dagur understood after a little while. With the Berserker troops gone, the only ones left on this island were Alvin and his Outcasts. There was no longer any chance that one of his Berserkers would stumble across him by accident and alert the others he was alive.

His fleet was probably happier without him. Dagur had won no battles for them, and didn't have his Nightfury in the end. Why was it that no matter what happened, Dagur always seemed to lose?

Alvin took a step forward and set his boot on Dagur's broken leg, applying pressure to the damaged bones as he liked to do. Dagur cringed at the pain, and Alvin applied more pressure. Something snapped, and Dagur screamed. The sound made Alvin smile.

* * *

 **First, I'm going to say that Alvin and Dagur were displayed correctly. Torture changes a person, and although Dagur's grudges haven't faded he simply doesn't have the energy to rant. Not sure if Alvin would do this, but why not?**

 **Hiccup - "He half-wished Dagur was still alive as the knowledge of her brother's survival might cool Kata's fire." - He is going to eat those words later in the worst way possible when Kata does find out Dagur's alive.**


	15. The Games of Immortals

Kata rubbed her eyes early the next morning as she walked down the stairs from her room, another day having passed since the pirate's disastrous attack. She was fully dressed, but had left her shield and her sleeping dragon in her room. Just like yesterday, someone had set out left a basket of food on the front step of her house, and she brought it inside to the table.

She said thanks to no one in particular, and then sat down and ate her food. Kata was a horrible cook, and she was thankfully that the village was making sure she was staying well fed so she didn't risk giving herself food poisoning.

Once she finished eating, she checked to see whose basket this was. This time it was from Merrik. Ever since his parents had been killed by pirates several years ago, Merrik had learned to take care of himself and do things such as prepare his own meals. He _never_ gave himself food poisoning.

As she replaced her empty dishes into the basket, she was surprised to find that there was something else in it. Curiously, she withdrew a piece of parchment folded in questers. When she picked it up, a small metal oval fell out and clattered onto the table.

Kata picked up the oval in one hand as she unfolded the paper with the other. The thin oval appeared to be a pendent, and was was inscribed with the symbol of two snakes twining around each other in a shape reminiscent of a figure-8. Like a hammer symbolized Thor and the raven was Odin's, this was Loki's symbol.

The letter said about what she thought it would. Dace, the village blacksmith, had made it for her as a sort of good luck charm. Kata thought it was a little silly as she and looked at the snakes, but decided it was not unwelcome. There was a leather string tied to the handle of the basket, and she untied it and strung it through the hole in the pendant's top. It was a little tricky getting the knot right so the pendent would sit flat to her chest, but she figured it out after a few minutes fumbling.

According to Leif, the two snakes were the closest thing to a symbol Loki had. He had seen it stitched onto Loki's jacket when he had been dragged to Asgard, an event that had happened shortly after his mysterious Æsir sponsor had resurrected him. It had been interesting trying to figure out an excuse to explain where Leif had disappeared to for six days.

Kata picked up the basket in one hand and held the pendent by its string with the other, walking outside. She'd return this to Merrik and put on the necklace there. It was nice out, and later in the day then she thought it was.

Walking across the village and looking over things was a welcome distraction from the news that Dammen would arrive tomorrow. As she walked, her Berserkers greeted her warmly. Most addressed her as "chief" or "Lady" instead of Kata, something they hadn't done before the pirate's attack. It appeared their victory had solidified their faith in her, and Kata she was glad something good had come from the battle.

She held the pendent up to the light, looking at the delicate engraving with a smile. There was the sound of feathery wingbeats, and Kata glanced up just as something small and black attacked her. Kata raised a hand over her eyes as her attacker tried to claw at her eyes with its talons, and she dropped the basket to draw one of her daggers and slash at it.

Her first strike missed, and she felt something like a beak cut her hand holding her pendent. Shock from the pain made her grip falter, and the attacker deftly snatched up the pendent and flew off. Kata lowered her hand from her eyes and saw in surprise that it was a pair of ravens who had attacked her, and one of them held her pendent in its beak.

"Oh no you don't, you scavengers," Kata growled, and abandoned the basket to chase down the ravens.

She bent down and scooped up a stone from the ground as the ravens flew towards the forest. A moment of careful aim and then she threw it. Her stone satisfyingly hit the raven with the pendent, and it dropped it with a squawk. It seemed her aim had hit its wing because it fell into the canopy after her pendent, and the second raven dove down after its partner.

Kata ran through the trees lightly, having explored every inch of Berserk's forests and knowing her way. When she reached a small clearing near the ravine that ran from north to south at the center of the island, she slid to a stop in surprise. Standing in the clearing before her was an old man.

He wore a tattered cloak and hat pulled low over his eyes, and held a worn walking stick in one hand. The raven Kata had hit was sitting on one of his shoulders running its beak through the feathers of his wing to find the injury, and the second one sat on his other shoulder like a sentinel. The old man was holding the pendent she had been given with one hand, an almost distasteful expression on his features.

Kata drew her daggers and fell into fighting stance with her blades in a reverse grip held parallel to the ground. She had never seen this man before, and it was clear the ravens who had stolen her pendent had done so on his orders. Who was he?

The man slowly looked up from the pendent to her, his long white hair brushed over the right side of his face to hide his right eye. He had a long beard, and his one visible blue eye looked at her sternly in the same way Leif sometimes did. His gaze inexplicably made her want to bolt from his presence or bow. Her pendant's polished surface reflected the mid-morning sun.

"Why do you wear this?" The man asked Kata in a strong voice despite his old appearance and held the pendent with Loki's symbol towards her. "I assure you it will not play in your favor."

"Maybe, maybe not," Kata responded warily, "Who are you exactly? I'm the chief of this island and you're a new face. That leads me to guess that you're one of the pirates we missed killing."

"You do sound like Loki," the man sighed, "and you go into the same fighting stance. Why do you wear Loki's symbol, mortal?"

"Because I want to mostly and I…" Kata's voice trailed off when she registered that he had just called her mortal.

She looked at the man and then relaxed her fighting stance, letting her arms relax to her sides.

"You're Odin, aren't you?" Kata asked him, "the Allfather of the Æsir."

The old man tipped his head to slightly in agreement, and Kata sheathed her blades with a light growl. A mortal like her could do nothing against the chief of all the gods, and keeping her blades bare might irritate him. Immortals had a habit for showing up on Berserk, but they rarely interacted with the inhabitants. Usually Leif just saw them wondering around, and he had never mentioned Odin coming in person before.

"Why are you on Midgard?" She asked Odin in a more respectful voice. "Why not on Asgard?"

"I fail to understand why Loki has such interest in this tribe, and in you," Odin responded and looked at her pendent calmly. "And I do not understand why you would wear his symbol. He might have restored the life of one of your kinsman, but I hardly think that would be enough."

"Restored the life?" Kata repeated and then understood. "Leif. You mean Leif. Loki was the one who resurrected Leif and is giving him his visions?"

Odin tssked when she mentioned the visions, and lowered the hand holding her pendent to his side. "I do not see why you wear his symbol. We gain power from the humans who worship us, and here you are with his symbol around your neck and only good intentions in your thoughts. You are unique in that regard. Why do you worship a liesmith such as Loki?"

"Because I don't really fit in," Kata shrugged. "I'm something of a misfit. A woman training as a shield-maiden and now the leader of a tribe without a man to help me. I trained a dragon after reading Drake's diaries. Rather than an axe and shield, I use small blades and I don't wear chainmail or armor when I go into battle. I don't really fit in with anyone else here. Besides, I like Loki."

"Like him?" Odin asked in confusion. "How could you like him?"

"Because he's fun," Kata smiled. "He causes mischief and strife, but no one ever actually gets hurts from his pranks. When Asgard is in dire need of help then he helps without a complaint. He's not evil or bad, he's just Loki."

"Loki is none of those things," Odin dismissed. "He is a threat and a menace to Asgard, and he will not be helping the boy with the visions or you for some time."

"What do you mean?" Kata asked seriously, and then stepped forward in an almost defensive manner. "What did you do to him?"

"He made a deal with Thjazi and kidnapped Iðunn for him," Odin scowled. "Although he did rescue her the fact remains that he gave her to the giant. He's been placed in the dungeon for now, and he'll be lucky if I don't decide to just keep him there."

Kata heard the word dungeon, and she gave Odin a look of disagreement best described as cross. It sounded like Odin was describing one of the tales of Norse mythology she knew, the Kidnapping of Iðunn. Had that tale just happened in real life?

"Loki is not worth your concern mortal," Odin assured Kata despite the furious look she had. "There are many other gods that you should focus on instead of a nuisance like him."

"Like you?" Kata asked dryly. "Should I worship you instead so you become that much stronger?"

Sheesh, Leif was right. After Leif's unwarranted trip to Asgard, he had told those who knew of his visions about the gods. He had called Odin single-minded and somewhat conceited, and it seemed he hadn't been exaggerating. Odin didn't like the fact that there was someone worshipping Loki and giving him strength, so he had come to tell Kata off and offer her a chance to worship him.

"I am sorry Odin," Kata apologized and bowed at the waist, "but I don't like ravens as much as I do snakes."

Odin looked at her dangerously and then tossed Kata her pendent back. She caught it, surprised by his action.

"You will have to learn the hard way it seems that Loki cannot be trusted," Odin sighed. "Loki is a scheming nihilistic coward who cares only for shallow pleasures and self-preservation. He is malicious, playful, and helpful by turns. Right now he is helpful because you Berserkers amuse him, and I doubt he's ever had a human wear his symbol with pride or ask after his whereabouts _as if she were challenging the Allfather_."

Kata blushed a little at Odin's declaration, but Odin went on before she could say something.

"He will show his true colors soon enough," Odin assured Kata. "He always does. Take heed mortal, and do not trust him for your sake and the sake of the people you lead. Those who follow Loki always end up with Hel."

"All mortals die Allfather," Kata assured him.

This time she tied the pendent around her neck so Odin's raven companions, who she now assumed were Huginn and Muninn, couldn't steal it again. She tightened the knot and then lowered her hands. Her pendent glittered in the light, and she stood tall against Odin, not going to bow again despite the fact that he was the leader of the gods. Odin supposed he could understand now why Loki was interested in her, but he did still did not see why she followed him.

A gust of wind suddenly blew through the air, throwing dust and leaves into the air. Kata was forced to close her eyes and duck her head to avoid being blinded by the debris, and it was only once the wind faded that she was able to look up and open her eyes. Odin was gone as if he had never been there. She looked down at her hands, now scratched from the raven's attack, and then tightened them into fists.

"We'll see about Loki," Kata challenged the air, knowing Odin would hear her words.

* * *

"You're Loki's pet, aren't you?" Someone asked Leif as he looked through his spyglass to try to see Arngrim Dammen's approaching ships.

Leif glanced away from the spyglass, and was only mildly surprised to see the Valkyrie who had been flying around the village a few days ago standing next to him. Her feet were flat on the ground, and her giant white feather wings were folded onto her back as if she were a bird. He disliked the arrogant superior tone her voice held when she said Loki's name, but most immortals spoke like that.

"I'm not his pet," Leif assured her.

"I knew it," the Valkyrie sighed. "That's why you can see me. You're the one Loki enhanced."

Leif looked back through the spyglass again without replying and the Valkyrie stared at him seriously.

"So this is Berserk," the Valkyrie scoffed. "I can't believe Loki's putting so much effort into helping one human faction. He's careful to. Odin doesn't notice Loki's helped you until the disaster's already passed, so he hasn't gotten in trouble yet."

"Good," Leif said sharply.

"I'm Sigrún," the Valkyrie introduced unexpectedly. "Can you see the Æsir when they come and to your village to?"

Leif lowered his spyglass again, surprised that an immortal was being so friendly with him. Normally they were quiet and distant, barely looking his way except to scowl. Like most Valkyries he had seen, Sigrún was dressed in polished silver armor with a winged helm. There was a sword hilt clipped to the right side of her belt that Leif knew could materialize a blade if she wanted, and a smaller collapsed version of her large silver shield mounted on her left vambrace.

Sigrún looked somewhat young, only in her mid-teens with angular dark blue eyes and fair skin. Her long golden blonde hair almost reached her ankles and it was tied into two ponytails by her skull, held in place with two short lavender ribbons. The color of the ribbons matched the highlights of the lavender and crimson clothing she wore under her armor.

"It depends on the Æsir and how much they want to see me," Leif shrugged. "I also have to be looking for them, and I usually don't."

"Smart," Sigrún agreed.

Quiet resumed on the lookout ridge, and Leif decided that since he had a Valkyrie that was willing to talk to him now might be a good time to ask. "Is Dagur safe?"

"Dagur?" The Valkyrie blinked her eyes at him, and then looked out over the ocean. "You mean Kata's brother. The situation here on Berserk has become something of a game to us immortals, and everyone is betting on different outcomes. It is interesting to see what turn you will take."

"Is he in Valhalla?" Leif repeated. "I'm sure if he was Kata would be glad to hear it."

"He's not there," Sigrún smiled. "I guess this will make the game more interesting, so I'll say Dagur's not with Hel."

Slowly Leif lowered his spyglass, and asked without facing the curious Valkyrie. "What do you mean? He has to be with Hel. He's dead."

"What makes you think he's dead?" Sigrún scoffed.

"Dagur's not dead," Leif whispered.

"I'm not supposed to tell you mortals what you don't already know, but I'm not sure if you count as a mortal after what Loki did to you." Sigrún shrugged, wings moving with the movement. "Dagur's going to die soon, and if he dies then things are going to get boring. I suppose I'd like to keep the game going. It's not often we immortals get entertainment, and you Berserkers have been giving us plenty."

"Loki did not resurrect me so he could be entertained," Leif defended sharply.

"You're defending that snake?" Sigrún rolled her eyes. "Moron. Well, I'll tell you Dagur's alive so the game won't end. I can feel his lifeforce though, so he is dying. I suspect he doesn't have more than a few weeks to live."

Dozens of questions sprang to Leif's mind. Why did Dagur only have a few weeks left to live? What had happened to him? Leif picked just one to say.

"Where is he?" He breathed in a trembling voice as he clenched his hands around his spyglass.

Sigrún looked at him in amusement, and then shook her head no. "I think I've given you enough of a hint, pet. You find him, but you had better hurry."

"I'm not Loki's pet," Leif repeated strongly and stood tall in front of the Valkyrie where almost anyone else would shy away. "He did not resurrect me because he was bored and wanted someone to entertain him."

"You don't know Loki very well at all, do you?" Sigrún chuckled darkly. "Well, I suppose that's part of the fun."

Leif clenched his teeth and Sigrún smiled. She might not be much older than Hiccup, but she was vicious. Most Valkyries he had met were like that, like the other immortals.

"Your guests are here," Sigrún added and pointed out to sea with one of her wings.

Leif glanced over the horizon and held the spyglass to his eye. After a second, he saw the white sails of the approaching ships. They were a day early.

Sigrún ran past him then and dove off the cliff while he was distracted, snapping open her wings mid-way to the ocean. He looked at her as she flew off and vanished into the sky, and then back out where the ships were without using his spyglass.

He had to warn Kata about Dagur, but at the same time, he knew that Arngrim needed to be turned away. After Arngrim left, he decided. Leif would tell Kata her brother was alive after Arngrim was gone. The question became then, as he had posed to Sigrún, where was Dagur?

* * *

 **As previously pointed out, the immortals usually just observe the village from afar invisibly. This is actually the first time they've interacted directly with the Berserkers and openly admitted they are immortals (Excepting Loki's interaction with Leif). It isn't common, and it won't become a pattern. At this point, i wasn't sure how else they were going to learn Dagur was still alive before his death since Alvin is doing such a good job of keeping it a secret.**

 **If you want to a quick review on Norse mythology, there's a website called " _Norse Mythology For Smart People_ ," type that into the search bar and you'll get it. They do an amazing job of explaining characters, tales, and other aspects of Norse mythology. Not only do they keep it short and summarized, they include all important details, and it's really really _easy to understand_. I know, rare. **

**Just an option if you want a good source because as i think i said earlier, the gods actually play a part in my stories. Although the main story takes place around mortals, it's fun, and the divine beings aren't all rooting for and helping the Berserker tribe.**


	16. Arngrim Dammen

Kata was waiting near the docks when Arngrim and his escort came. Because the bay was only partially cleared of the wrecked hulls of pirate ships, only Arngrim's longship could enter and the other two had to remain outside the harbor. She was wearing the pendent with Loki's crest under her tunic, and now had both her dragon and shield with her when they approached.

Jodi had quickly cleaned the wounds left by Odin's ravens, but Kata hadn't let her bandage her hands. Kata also didn't have a chance to explain where the scratches had come from, but she promised Jodi she'd tell her after Arngrim was gone. As per her previous orders, Merrik and Skye had guided Arngrim's longship through the graveyard choking the bay and his dragon now landed behind her.

Leif was out of sight, and wasn't going to show himself until Arngrim was gone. Something had seemed to be troubling Leif, but Arngrim's early arrival meant she had no time to hear him out. He had assured her that he hadn't had another vision, and that it could wait a few hours.

Kata put it out of her mind as some of her Berserkers helped tie Arngrim's ship down and a gangplank was lowered. Arngrim hadn't changed much in the three years that had passed since her first meeting of him. He was still a large man of a size and general appearance reminiscent of Stoick the Vast. His thick brown beard had a little more white in it then last time, and he had taken off his fur hat and heavy fur coat to accommodate the heat. His brown eyes fell on her and Trick curiously as if seeing something that might be worth bartering for.

She tipped her head to him in greeting. He was both a guest and younger brother of the Northlander chief, so he deserved respect. Arngrim was not a chief of equal rank however, so Kata straightened without his acknowledgment. Ironically enough, she outranked him.

"Arngrim Dammen," Kata greeted him courteously aware that he should be the one to bow to her as the intruder and lower-ranked Viking. "You are here earlier than we thought you would be."

"We picked up a fair wind suddenly," Arngrim explained confidently as if he owned Berserk without lowering his head.

And Odin would have nothing to do with that, now would he? Kata thought to herself in annoyance as she overlooked Arngrim's disrespect. Dealing with immortals and their whims were really starting to annoy her.

"You will have to pardon the mess," Kata assured him and glanced at the harbor, not fazed by his confidence. "We were recently attacked by a fleet though we were able to defeat them without too much trouble."

"I see," Arngrim said, jumping to conclusions. "How many ships in the harbor are yours?"

"None," Kata said seriously.

Arngrim and the men with him gave a start when she said that. "Did you just say none?"

"That is correct," Kata nodded. "Some of our ships were damaged but none sank."

Arngrim glanced back over the harbor that was made more of ships then water, and then slowly back to Kata. He didn't look so confident now. Kata didn't bother telling him that they had needed to beach many of their ships out of the water to repair them before they did sink, but technically, there were none in the harbor.

"And the surviving attackers?" He asked.

"There weren't any," Kata answered.

When Arngrim hesitated, Kata smiled at him just like Dagur would have. She was now a little grateful that the pirates had attacked, because there was no better show of strength then listening to the statistics of the battle while looking over the fleet of wrecks. Dealing with Arngrim was almost relaxing after facing down Odin, and her cool demeanor that was rattling Arngrim did not waver.

"Come," she told Arngrim and took a step back. "We may not have a welcome feast planned for you considering the circumstances, but we do have some refreshments for you and your men at the Great Hall. We can speak there."

Arngrim nodded after a moment, and motioned for some of his men to come and the rest to stay with the ship. Kata could tell that Arngrim was looking around and was surprised by the lack of damage to the village. Merrik sitting on Skye's back also made a striking image, and Kata had removed all of her bandages beforehand so it looked like she wasn't injured.

Skye took flight suddenly, startling Arngrim and almost making him fall off the dock into the harbor. Kata didn't even glance towards the dragon as the backwash from its wings ruffled her hair and continued walking. Merrik's orders were to patrol, and to stay in sight of Arngrim's men so they could see him easily. Arngrim recovered and continued walking behind Kata up to the Great Hall.

"I'm surprised you were able to tame a dragon that large," Arngrim admitted as they walked up the hewn stone steps with a backwards glance at Skye.

"You can train a dragon," Kata assured Arngrim, "but you cannot _tame_ one."

The difference between those things eluded Arngrim, and Kata didn't bother to elaborate. If you couldn't understand something as basic as that then there was no way you could ever train a dragon. It was for this reason that the Outcasts were not yet riding dragons. She didn't relish the idea of Arngrim having trained dragons, so she was pleased he didn't understand.

They entered the Great Hall where tables had been set up, and the small group sat down. Vorg was with Kata along with some of the other Berserker captains, and Arngrim had a few of his men with him. Allinda, civilian women widowed by the pirate's a year ago with one young daughter, had set out a few mugs of ale and everyone sat down at the set table. Kata liked the taste of ale, it being made from honey rather than alcohol, and she took a sip of it.

"I can guess why you are here," Kata said cautiously after giving them a little bit of time to relax.

"I suppose you can," Arngrim agreed and set his mug down.

"You might as well go back to the Shivering Shores then Arngrim," Kata warned him.

"Go back?" Arngrim asked in confusion. "I am aware you are of a marrying age."

"That doesn't mean I intend to marry," Kata promised softly.

"You intend to rule a tribe on your own, girl?" Arngrim asked in surprise, calling her as if she were an object instead of a person by avoiding her name.

"I've done a good job so far," Kata smiled, more amused then anything by Arngrim's tone. "Wouldn't you say so?"

"You think a woman like you can rule a tribe on her own?" Arngrim said in bewilderment.

"Yes," Kata replied confidently. "I'd like to see anyway. I don't need a man to be strong for me while I fade into the background as a pretty ornament, seen and not heard. That's not how I grew up, and that's not how I'll start acting."

If it wasn't for Dagur then she might have been like that, but he helped her find her voice and her strength. He had done a lot for her in his own way, but now he was dead. It wasn't fair that he was dead. Dagur was dead because of Berk and Alvin, not by any fault of his own.

Arngrim narrowed his eyes, but Kata didn't flinch. His false bravado and bluster was nothing compared to Odin's silent aura of strength. In fact, his best skill was convincing others to do what he told him through a show of strength and scaring them into obeying him. She would much rather be speaking to Odin, for he at least was respectable. Her observation made Odin chuckle as he watched their exchange, but Kata had no way to know that.

"Being insolent does not make you a good chief," Arngrim warned. "You need a man to help you."

"Ah," Kata leaned back and waved a finger at him. "Is my refusal of your marriage proposal insolent because I am woman and you are the man, and I should not disobey your wishes?"

Arngrim couldn't understand why she was acting so confident as she was when she was just a girl.

"Also," Kata added, "as you pointed out I am not a girl anymore. I am a young woman, and as I'm sure you noticed from the harbor I managed to do pretty well. My tribe has just weathered a full-scale invasion, and the outcome was the closest example of a total victory that I can think of."

It was more of a total victory then her returning home with her fleet because she had returned without Dagur. This time she had rescued Arin instead of leaving him behind.

"But you are," Arngrim started to say.

"Female?" Kata pointed out. "I believe you covered that already. Arngrim, if that is your only point then you might as well drop it. You need a better argument."

Arngrim stood at her tone and flippant manner, and Kata curled her right hand and then flicked her wrist. The throwing knife she had palmed flew through the air. It clipped Arngrim's cheek as it flew past him and landed on the ground. The sudden pain made Arngrim freeze half-standing, and Kata calmly took a sip from her ale as if bored. Trick didn't even raise his head from her shoulders.

"Give me some credit," Kata scolded him and waved her right hand at him, another throwing blade in her fingers reflecting the light of the fire. "I did grow up with Dagur the Deranged as my older brother."

Vorg looked down to try to hide his smile at the stunned expression on the faces of the Northlander men. Kata could be as much of a hassle as a Red Death when she put her mind to it, and she looked somewhat fed up with Arngrim. He was surprised by her confidence, but glad at the same time.

"Sit," she ordered Arngrim, motioning with her throwing blade.

Since it was by the order of a woman, Arngrim was unwilling to obey it. Had he seen her as a chief then it wouldn't have bothered him as she was technically the chief and he was just a visitor, and he should respect her. Kata shrugged as if she didn't care if he sat or not and idly scratched Trick under his chin with her free hand after she set the mug down.

"You will not accept the alliance?" Arngrim asked in a dangerously irritated voice.

"Not under these circumstances," Kata agreed and lowered her hand from her dragon to the table, twirling her throwing blade in her other hand. "At the moment, my tribe needs a chief far more then I pointneed a husband. I will gladly do business with the Northlanders, Arngrim Dammen, but I have neither the interest nor need to marry someone. Please tell your brother, Chief Var Dammen I said as much."

"Then there is no agreement," Arngrim promised her and stood fully, his men following his lead.

Although Vorg and the other Berserkers with Kata stood out of instinct from the hostility Arngrim was giving off, Kata did not. She simply took another sip of her ale.

"That is unfortunate," Kata sighed, "but if that is your decision Arngrim Dammen, then that is your decision. Can you please escort our guests back to their ship? It appears this conversation is at an end, and I have a village to run."

Not seeing her guests off was somewhat insulting, like handing someone a sword point-first instead of by the hilt, and Vorg thought that might be overdoing it a little. Vorg stayed with Kata while the other Berserkers escorted Arngrim and his group out of the Great Hall. She sighed and shook her head at Arngrim's stubbornness as she finished off her ale. Trick hopped onto the table and then flew across the room to retrieve the blade she had thrown. He came back and set it next to her hand as she sheathed the one she had been holding.

"Kata," Vorg began as Kata sheathed the other blade. "That was…"

"Stupid, selfish, cost us an ally?" Kata finished his sentence for him and finally stood. "I know that might have been but there is no way I would consent to be his wife, his property and complacent servant. Berserk needs a chief, not a decoration."

"That was brilliant," Vorg interrupted.

"Brilliant?" Kata blinked at him, "really?"

Allinda nodded agreement silently as she picked up dishes from the table. She didn't say anything, but it was clear she agreed as she took the dishes and left to clean them up. Kata was surprised they weren't upset over her insolence.

"The Northlanders would have given us an ally to the north, but they trade in furs and dragon products," Vorg smiled. "We don't lose much, and I don't think an alliance would have been worth your hand. Besides Kata, you're a chief. You don't have to obey anyone, and you proved your judgement with the pirates. Don't forget you are a chief now."

Kata hesitated, and Vorg smiled assurance.

"Although you facing off against him…" Vorg chuckled. "That was brave Kata."

"Dealing with Arngrim bluff and bluster isn't nearly as unnerving as facing down Odin," Kata admitted, aware that it was all right to tell Vorg about her latest adventure.

"Did you say Odin?" Vorg asked seriously as Trick climbed back onto Kata's shoulders.

Kata held out her injured hands. "A pair of ravens did this to me, and I'm sure you can guess who they were. Odin was curious about why I liked Loki. He couldn't understand why I would wear his symbol."

She touched the pendent hidden under her tunic, and Vorg didn't ask what she was meant. Just as she had thought, he had something to do with her new good luck charm. Dace had made it, Leif had sketched the pattern, and Merrik had delivered it. Did everyone on Berserk know about her present except her? It was kind of impressive they had managed to keep it hidden so well.

"I'll tell you the details later uncle," Kata promised, "but Leif said there was something he needed to speak to me after Arngrim was turned away. It wasn't a vision, but it still sounded important. Can you tell Merrik to keep an eye on the Northlander ships until they're far enough away, and then to do a quick lap around the island to make sure we don't have any unexpected guests trying to blindside us with an ambush?"

Vorg really wanted to hear Kata out about her brush with the chief of the gods, but she was already walking to the doorway. "I'll tell him."

"Thanks," she called over her shoulder and went outside.

She walked slowly down the steps of the Great Hall, able to overlook the harbor and Arngrim Dammen's departing ship. Unexpectedly she heard the sound of swords crossing when she reached level ground. It seemed doubtful to her that anyone had the energy to spar, and then she heard a scream, confirming that it wasn't sparring. Kata drew her daggers as she stepped off the stairs of hewn stone and began to run towards the sounds of combat.

Realms, what was going on _now_?

...

 **Never a dull moment. Arngrim Dammen is a Dreamwork Dragon original character i am borrowing. He's a villain in the comics, and i tried to match his character as much as possible. The same is said for the Northlander tribe and Shivering Shores land, and although not much detail was given on the latter two i thought i might as well incorporate them in. I'd rather use their information instead of making stuff up where ever possible.**

 **We all know what Leif wants to tell her from the last chapter, but what is going on now?**


	17. Prisoner of War

Ingrid held her shortswords in her hand and parried a strike from a Berserker sword, slashing the side of his neck open as she ducked another swing. Thor, these Berserkers were annoying. They had so many swords and most of them were in armor, although she didn't know why they wanted to look so impressive.

There was no sign of the dragon rider, and Ingrid knew she needed to return to hiding in the forest with her stolen provisions before he returned. Maggots, it appeared she had picked the worst possible moment to come out of hiding. Another Berserker engaged her and she crossed her blades in an 'x' shape, redirecting his sword to the ground with one blade while she slashed at his throat with her free one. It seemed her opponent knew that move because he was able to lean back and twist enough that her strike missed his throat.

Ingrid yanked her second shortsword free and jumped back smoothly. She parried a few strikes and her quick shortsword stabbed at the armor and the places between it, landing at least a few hits. So far, no one had managed to land a hit on her.

Willem swore when he saw her, and grabbed the crossbow of one of the fallen Berserkers. He raised it to his face, knowing he wasn't as good as Merrik but hoping for one hit. There was a click as he pulled the trigger and the bolt flew towards the pirate's chest, looking as if it would score a direct hit. The hope was in vain, and Ingrid smoothly flipped one of her shortswords into a reverse grip and deflected the metal bolt off the surface.

Willem hesitated when the crossbow bolt went spinning away harmlessly, and the pirate woman slashed a Berserker across the face as she recovered without missing a beat. Not even Kata had reflexes like that. Who was she?

Kata slid to a stop and looked at the bodies of her people lying on the ground and at other injured members. Jodi stood out of the way of the fighting, her oversized satchel slung over one shoulder and holding her dagger tightly. She looked furious that she couldn't help, but knew that she needed to stay safe because if the healer was killed there would be no one to tend the wounded.

Kata was expected to find another attacking force, so was stunned when she identified only one enemy attacking her people. Then she saw the female wearing the green paint of a pirate sidetep a crossbow bolt and then turn and kneel, cutting the rope of a bola heading her way without even looking at it. After the bola landed in pieces behind her, she rolled forward to avoid a falling sword blade and stabbed one Berserker in the stomach before dancing away.

Kata sheathed her daggers after a few seconds and instead took her shield off her back, disturbing Trick. She signaled Trick to do a battle move, and Trick flew towards the renegade pirate. This pirate looked way too effective at killing, so trickery would best be used against her skill.

Ingrid dodged one of Willem's strikes, and was surprised when Willem was able to survive her first strike and nick her upper arm, the first injury she had suffered.

"Not bad," Ingrid congratulated him with a taunting smile.

She heard a sound more similar to a chirp then roar, and was almost scared out of her boots when a gold and red dragon spat a fireball at her. Ingrid ducked them easily, but the dragon hovering just was out of range. It appeared the red dragon wasn't the only tamed beast here, and that doubled Ingrid's wish to disengage.

She turned to run from them, but the dragon was blocking her path. With a tssk, Ingrid took another route right where Kata was waiting. As Ingrid ran around the corner, Kata slammed her shield against Ingrid's face. Ingrid stumbled back, stunned from the blow, and then tripped over her feet and fell flat on the ground, soundly unconscious.

Willem and the other Berserkers weren't able to see Kata until she jumped from the barrel she had been standing on and walked out of the shadows with her shield in hand. She gave them an amused look, and slung the shield back over her shoulder onto her back. Despite what Odin thought, it was fun to fight from the shadows and use quick thinking instead of brute force.

"Thank you Trick," Kata congratulated her dragon as he flew over to her, "you led her right to me."

So that was what happened. Willem, glad beyond belief that their enemy was unconscious, lowered his sword and walked over to her. He intended to kill the pirate now, but Kata glanced at him when Trick landed on her shoulders.

"Wait," she ordered Willem as he raised the sword overhead to decapitate her.

Willem stopped before he swung the sword downward, and glanced her way. There was a calculating look in her blue eyes, a perfectly normal expression for her. Kata debated her options and then nodded to affirm her order. Reluctantly, Willem lowered his sword to his side.

"I thought you wanted a 100% casualty rate?" Willem asked Kata. "If you're thinking about survivors I don't think you should start with her. She's too strong, unnaturally so."

That was exactly why Kata was interested in her. After all, Leif's visions weren't a normal mortal gift. Was this pirate's fighting like Leif's eyes, god-touched? If the pirate was then she didn't want to make one of the gods upset. Of course, since only a few knew about the god's interference with life on Berserk she couldn't say it bluntly.

"I want to know how the pirates got such a large ship," Kata improvised. "It doesn't even look like it's from the Archipelago. I'm also quite curious to know about this " _Pirate Queen_ " who ordered the strike on Berserk. As this one might be the only pirate left alive, I need her to _stay alive_ long enough to answer my questions. Bind her and put her in the dungeon under guard, and have the guards stay alert around her. You are right about one thing Willem, she's good at killing."

The last sentence made it clear what Kata's true curiosity was, and Willem admitted he didn't want the immortals to meddle in Berserk's affairs any more then what they already were. If this pirate was like Leif with an immortal protecting her, then killing her could end badly.

"Yes chief," Willem said and sheathed his sword in its scabbard on his back. "You heard the chief, disarm this pirate and put her in the dungeon. Jodi, it's clear for you to come over and tend the wounded."

He turned towards her only to see an empty space where Jodi had been standing. Willem looked down and saw that Jodi was already kneeling by someone.

"Realms, did that one pirate do all of this?" Jodi asked.

"Yes," Willem sighed darkly. "Do you have the supplies you need?"

"Luckily," Jodi tossed out as she opened the satchel. "I was doing a walkabout to make sure everyone I ordered to bedrest was either resting or only on light duty, and I had supplies for their wounds."

Inside Jodi's were pre-made herbs packages and wrapped bandages, the exact things she needed to deal with melee injuries. It was lucky indeed she'd decided to do a walkabout. Jodi used her dagger to tear open the tunic of one Berserker and start tending his wound without another word.

"Chief," Jodi addressed Kata, "I'll handle this. Most of the Berserkers here are either dead or not critically injured for the most part. Willem, can you get that pirate in the dungeon before she wakes up?"

"I'm going," Willem promised. "Are you sure you're fine?"

"I'm a healer, you're a warrior," Jodi reminded Willem as she took out a bottle of saltwater to act as antiseptic and cleanse the wound of the Berserker she was looking at. "The fighting's done and so is your role. Now it's my turn so stay out of my way."

"Yes sir," Willem surrendered at the sharp tone Jodi's voice held.

He waved a Berserker over, and the two of them dragged the pirate woman away. Kata was wary to leave after the sudden attack and equally sudden ending, but Jodi gave her the same serious look. She held up her hands that she was going, and backed away.

A breeze when there should be none brushed against Jodi's cheek, and Jodi swore she felt something like a feather touch her. The sensation and breeze were gone almost instantly, but she still hesitated. Then she shook it off and went back to her work, ordering the other Berserkers to bring the injured over here and separate the dead, which there unfortunately were.

If there hadn't been any dead, then Sigrún wouldn't have needed to be present. The young Valkyrie sighed quietly in relief when the healer went back to her patients, and Sigrún made sure her wings were folded securely on her back so they wouldn't touch another mortal. Most mortals wouldn't be aware of an immortal when they were ghosting invisibly as she was, with Leif being a notable exception, yet that mortal had felt her presence.

Perhaps it was because of Loki enhancing Leif, or maybe it was because there were so many immortals that drifted to this village, but the people here were becoming more aware of an immortal's presence. It ruffled Sigrún's wings, and the Valkyrie knelt to put the souls of great warriors she was collecting into her shield to take to Valhalla. The other souls would find their way to Niflheim before long.

Sigrún looked through her bangs as Kata backed away and checked the harbor. The ships with the black snowflake on their sail weren't drawn back to shore by the sounds of combat, so Sigrún assumed they hadn't heard it. That worked for Kata as unless Sigrún was mistaken, Kata had just gotten done telling Arngrim there hadn't been any pirates who survived the attack. If he learned that this woman had survived then he might doubt Kata's claim, and her strength.

Sigrún knew that Kata was wrong about the pirate woman they had just captured. She, Ingrid was it?, was not god-touched like Leif. She was just very good at killing, and killing each other was something mortals excelled at. In the matter of Kata's marriage to Arngrim, Sigrún was rooting for Kata to remain independent. Other were likely betting that Arngrim would have managed to succeed in forcing her to marry him, but it looked like they lost.

Kata left, and Sigrún smiled as she placed a glittering sparkle into her shield from the body of a Berserker. It seemed Kata was about to learn that Dagur was alive. This should keep things interesting. On the matter of more than Kata's engagement to Arngrim, Sigrún hoped the Berserkers won.

Although the matter of "winning" or "losing" would not be determined for some time more, the fact was evident that the game changed about ten minutes later. Kata was standing in the doorway to her house, the door closed behind her, and Leif was sitting on the surface of the table.

"If what the Valkyrie told me is true then the most likely place for Dagur to be is on Outcast," Leif continued speaking as he finished his report to Kata. "I doubt he was moved off the island. Berserk and Outcast are too far away for us to make a straight run to them, so we need some place between here and Outcast. Jodi's going to need to come to so she can help Dagur, and I bet Merrik will also."

"Dagur is alive," Kata repeated, Leif's words still sinking in. "He's been alive this whole time."

"Yes," Leif nodded.

Kata suddenly slammed her hand on the wall of her house, and Leif sat a little straighter.

"Damn it, "Kata swore, extended hand shaking. "Alvin's had him the whole time. How come I didn't notice it when I was on Outcast?"

"It's not your fault Kata," Leif assured her. "The only reason I know is because a Valkyrie told me."

"And the Valkyrie said Dagur only has a few weeks to live, correct?" Kata repeated in a voice both low and harsh.

Leif was glad she wasn't asking for the Valkyrie's name, and nodded again.

"That means he's injured," Kata curled the hand on the wall into a fist, fingernails digging into her palm. "Alvin's probably been torturing him to the point where he's near death."

Leif didn't nod again, having guessed as much.

"Berk," Kata snapped and straightened, hand falling to her side. "We'll use Berk as the point between our island and Outcast. I can go there under the illusion I'm renewing the peace treaty between Berk and Berserk. We'll send the flagship we commandeered from the pirates ahead with Jodi and Merrik on it. With Berserkers present, Berk's dragon riders will have to keep their patrols close to the island so they won't be able to see the flagship. It goes ahead to Outcast while we stall on Berk. They rescue Dagur, bring him to the ship, and then head home."

"That was fast," Leif tilted his head to one side, the emerald that sparkled in his eyes as unnatural as ever.

Kata had lowered her head, bangs partially falling in front of her face. She had her eyes closed, but Leif saw her slowly smile. It was a smile that made Leif scooch backwards away from her a little.

"That's not the whole plan," Kata promised Leif. "We're not leaving Berk in one piece. I still owe them for our defeat in the war, and now they've left Dagur in Alvin's custody to be tortured to death. Berk will pay in blood for doing that to my brother, starting with their chief and Hiccup. After that, I'll move onto Outcast. This time I won't leave Alvin alive."

"There's no proof that Berk knows Dagur is still alive," Leif pointed out.

" _It doesn't_ _matter_!" Kata shouted and shook her head, acting like Dagur suddenly. "All that matters is giving them what they deserve. Berk decided to leave Dagur with Alvin, and Alvin tortured him. They will all pay for hurting my brother. Just like the pirates did."

Kata looked at Leif, her blue eyes cold as chips of ice, but glittering with an unstable light usually seen only in Dagur's eyes.

"Just like the pirates," Kata promised. "Berk and Outcast will suffer the same fate as the pirate fleet for what they have done."

"K-Kata," Leif finally stuttered and leaned forward. "You don't mean-"

"100% casualty rate," Kata repeated. "Neither Berk nor Outcast will survive. They will all pay for abandoning my brother and leaving him to this fate. That I vow. No one will survive."

Leif swallowed at the surety in Kata's eyes, knowing that she had made up her mind.

* * *

Within the golden hall of Gladsheimr on Asgard, the Allfather Odin put a hand over his face and sighed deeply. Kata's vow had rang, and Odin had heard it. She would see her vow through, of that Odin had no doubt.

At last though, Odin finally understood why Kata wore Loki's symbol. It was because she was just like him: helpful, playful, and malicious by turns. Right now, she was malicious.

A mortal with Loki's mindset and personality. Odin had never thought he would see someone who was so like him. That girl, Odin would grudgingly admit to himself, was terrifying, and he was quite glad that she was mortal. In a way she was even more terrifying then Loki because Kata believed what she was doing was right and just, while Loki at least knew what he was doing wrong. She was planning to exterminate two tribes and leave no survivors, and she thought she was doing the right thing.

Revenge was always gory, but it looked like things were about to become _very_ bloody in the world of mortals. Even by the standards of the Asgardians.

* * *

 **This is the end of "Part 1" so to speak. "Part 2" is Kata's trip to Berk and the bloodshed that will follow. Hiccup and co. play a much larger role as the excitement takes place almost exclusively on Berk or Outcast.**

 **Again, Ingrid is not god-touched like Leif. She doesn't need a god's favor to be able to kill so effectively. Prisoner of War refers to both Ingrid being the Berserkers prisoner, and Dagur being the Outcasts.**

 **All Berserkers are unstable in some way, and it is all the more obvious for the bloodline of the chiefs. Dagur shows his insanity quicker then Kata, but i wonder which one is more deserving of the title "Deranged."**


	18. PART 1: A STORM ON THE HORIZON summary

**PART 1: A STORM ON THE HORIZON SUMMARY:**

Two months have passed since the end of the _Defenders of Berk_ season. Dagur the Deranged and his Berserker armada have been defeated, with the Berserkers being absorbed into Alvin's fleet and the Outcasts allies of Berk. One month ago, Alvin announced that Dagur had escaped from his dungeon and died during an escape. What very few know is that Dagur is still alive, and Alvin merely faked his death so he could move Dagur to a secret location and torture him in revenge for Dagur's actions against him during the recent war.

We are aslo introduced to Kata, Dagur's younger sister and younger child of Oswald the Agreeable and his first wife Sefa. Kata is thirteen, almost fourteen at the start of the story, and is famous for training a dragon when she was a child. It was merely a Terrible Terror, but she believed the concept could be applied to train larger dragons, a theory Hiccup later proved in the first How to Train Your Dragon movie.

Oswald is dead and Dagur believed to be, as is Oswald's first wife Sefa, and his second wife Irene. One month after Dagur's "death," Kata travels to Outcast to retrieve the Berserker fleet. She is successful in this endeavor, and leaves victorious after a duel with Alvin to prove that despite being a young girl she is capable of victory. With her fleet in hand, she returned to Outcast.

To do so, she needs to take her fleet near Berk, and she does not wish for her enemies who defeated her beloved older brother to realized Berserk has her fleet back. In order to lure the riders in the wrong direction while the fleet passes unnoticed, she sends her friend Merrik to attack them. Merrik is an archer, and has until recently been with Alvin. During his stay there he trained a dragon and became Alvin's only dragon rider, now Kata's only rider.

During his attack on the Berk Riders he shoots down Toothless with his bow, and also shot Astrid and made her fall off her dragon. Although all the riders survive, Toothless is grounded for a few days until he heals and Astrid slips into a coma from the severity of her injuries.

Kata is greeted by the Berserkers joyfully, and she speaks briefly with Captain Vorg, Sefa's sister and her and Dagur's uncle. He says that Katas return is a total victory, to which she mournfully replies that this is not a total victory. She has returned without her brother.

Back on Berk, Hiccup looks over Merrik's arrow that was surgically removed from Toothless. It's the only lead he has on the attacker. Since Toothless has recovered, Hiccup sneaks off Berk without telling anyone, as the other riders would insist on coming if they knew and thus leave Berk defenseless. He heads to Outcast Island, the only place he knows that is training dragons, to see if they have a lead on the archer.

There is a very brief respite on Berserk, during which Kata speaks to Vorg and reveals that she and Dagur were unnaturally close as siblings. Their mother Sefa died when Kata was too young to remember her, and their stepmother Irene was abusive and disliked her foster children, although she was infertile herself. Oswald had little patience for either child, Dagur being too unstable to rule and Kata, the saner one, being a mere girl who should not be a shield-maiden.

Dagur trained Kata to fight in secret since she wanted to learn, but one time Oswald caught her practicing. There is a scar on Kata's chest from where Oswald hit her with his sword, very sound proof. Before, Dagur would remark that Oswald was so busy being agreeable to everyone that he had no patience left over for his children. Kata also vows here to pay Hiccup back as well as Alvin for her brother's death as it was Hiccup's idea Alvin be allowed to keep Dagur as his prisoner.

The pirates, a malicious and ragtag tribe of marauders, reappear on Berserk's shores. Their last visit a year ago led to the deaths of Merrik's family, and dozens of others in their hit and run raids. Arin, another friend of Kata's, was out in the sea and is captured by the pirates. They have a fleet organized in a full-scale invasion of Berserk, still under the misconception that Berserk's fleet is on Outcast and is not present to counter them.

It is at this point that a more magical element is introduced. Leif, Arin's younger brother, died several years prior to this story. He was restored to life by Loki, one of the Asgardian gods, in order to provide amusement and help a human that worships him instead of Thor or Odin as her patron god. This is Kata as she acts a great deal like Loki, both playing from the shadows and relying on wiles over strength, enjoying causing a little mischief and strife.

When Loki resurrected Leif he gave Leif a fragment of his immortal power to enhance him, and make things more amusing. This gave Loki the ability to send Leif visions of the future to warn him of disasters, when there is a disaster and when Loki can do so without arousing Odin's attention. He gets a vision warning him of Arin's capture and the pirate's approaching fleet, and quickly warns Kata.

Hiccup arrives at Outcast Island. He is stunned to learn that Alvin is in bed recovering from his injuries, and that Kata is the new Berserker chief and has returned home with her fleet. Savage greets him, and lies that he does not recognize Merrik's arrow. He doesn't wish to earn the Berserkers ire after Kata's show of force, and the fact that Merrik is skilled enough to help the Berserker's train an entire fleet of dragon riders. Hiccup returned to Berk to convey the news of Kata.

When the pirates approach Berserk, Kata allows them to enter the harbor without revealing the fleet. Once they enter the harbor, the fleet appears and blockades them inside, allowing them to be slaughtered by the better-trained warrior Berserkers. Merrik and his dragon rescue Arin from the pirate's flagship, a Dragon Hunter ship from beyond the Archipelago, while the majority of the pirates are killed and their ships sunk. The few that reach landfall are dealt with by Kata and the other Berserker warriors that had been hidden. Kata's trap of luring them in to slaughter them works, and all but one pirate is killed, although the Berserker's believe initially that she is dead. She being Ingrid, a female shield-maiden among the pirates, probably the only one as the pirate's consider women as nothing more than servants and bed warmers.

The morning after the pirate's ill-fated attack, Ingrid is hiding, and the villagers are repairing the damage done. There are less than a dozen Berserker casualties, so perfectly did the trap work. Kata is in the Great Hall getting her wounds looked at, and a direct tie-in to the series is introduced. Drake, an ancestor of Kata and Dagur a hundred years ago, once tamed a Skrill. He made the Skrill the symbol of his Berserkers, and stories are still told about his "harnessed Skrill that brought down lightning from the sky and destroyed everything in their path."

It is believed that the Skrill Dagur harness in the second season is the first Skrill Drake tamed a century ago, it having been frozen in the ice. Apparently, Dagur's Skrill has the same scars on its wing that Drake's first Skrill did, and it is noted that Dagur and Drake look very similar. As they are both from Berserk, their scents would be similar, all factors that allowed someone like Dagur to earn his Skrill's trust to the point of being able to control it.

Kata's tribe address Kata with a great deal more respect after this, often calling her " _chief_ " or " _lady_ " instead of just " _Kata_." Her plan protected Berserk, eliminated the threat, and sent a clear message to the Archipelago that despite Dagur's death the Berserkers were still strong. A 100% casualty rate was the plan, and they believe they have fulfilled that.

Merrik brought news that there were three more ships approaching Berserk, but they are not battleships. Rather, they are a convoy from the Northlander Tribe of the Shivering Shores, led by Arngrim Dammen, the younger brother of Var Dammen, their chief. He is here to try to force Kata to fulfill an agreement Oswald set up but Dagur dismissed, an alliance between their tribes in exchange for Kata's hand in marriage.

Hiccup returns and tells his father about Kata, and Stoick worries about what will happen. He knows Kata and Dagur were unusually close growing up, partially because of the situation with their parents, and that she would not take his death lightly. She had the power, and he mentions the possibility of a war on two fronts: Kata and her Berserkers, and whoever gave the archer that attacked Berk's riders orders. They are unaware that those two are the same.

Dagur is briefly shown, revealing that he is in a cell at Alvin's meager mercy. He is sick with a fever from an infection of an injury he sustained in his escape a month ago. He did escape as Alvin said, but he survived instead of dying. In addition, he is severely injured and will die soon from the infection if Alvin doesn't kill him first.

Loki is not the only immortal with an interest in Berserk. Due to his attention, the other Asgardians have taken to looking at the Berserks as a game and amusement to watch. Although they do not directly interact they often observe them in person invisibly, invisible to everyone but the enhanced Leif.

Kata is given a pendent carved with Loki's symbol as a present to commemorate her recent victory. Odin sends his ravens to steal Kata's pendent and lure her to him so he can speak to her in private. He questions Kata on why a human like her was willingly wearing Loki's symbol, Loki considered the nihilistic lie-smith of Asgard among the Æsir.

After Kata holds firm and rebellious against Odin without bowing to the chief of the gods, Odin returns her pendent, believing he understands now why Loki likes her. Why she likes Loki is still a mystery. At the same time Odin is speaking to her, Leif is approached by a Valkyrie while she is here collecting the souls of warriors' leftover from the recent battle. Her name is Sigrún and she is aware of the situation on Berserk and of Dagur's impending death.

She has been quite entertained by the Berserker's and knows that things will calm down if Dagur dies. Eager to keep things interesting, having bet on the Berserkers instead of against them as others have done, tells Leif something no mortal outside of Outcast is aware of: Dagur is still alive, but won't be for long.

Leif is stunned by the news, but their conversation is interrupted by the arrival of Arngrim Dammen's ships. Sigrún leaves, and Leif is forced to keep silent and not warn Kata of Dagur's survival until after Dammen has left. Direct interaction between mortals and immortals is almost unheard of, with them speaking to no one but Leif if at all, so this is a strange situation.

Arngrim Dammen arrives on Berserk, and is stunned that a young _girl_ like Kata is pretending to be chief. He is stunned by the Berserk's harbor glutted with the sunken ships of the pirates, and is bewildered by the sight of Merrik on his dragon following Kata's orders. She refuses his marriage proposal, regretting that it means there will be no alliance.

Vorg believes it was brilliant instead of selfish, as Berserk needs it's chief far more than an alliance with a tribe that trades in fur and dragon-based goods. She mentions dealing with Arngrim after facing down Odin is easy, surprising Vorg, who demands an explanation at some point. Kata goes to make sure Dammen has really left and to see Leif about something important.

On her way to see Leif, she hears the sounds of fighting and follows them to the source. Ingrid has been exposed, and is fighting the Berserker soldiers to try and escape. With the aid of her Terrible Terror, she forces Ingrid to approach her, and knocks her out with her shield. She is taken prisoner by the Berserkers, and Kata goes to see Leif about his important matter.

Sigrún is present collecting souls from the Berserkers Ingrid killed, and Jodi accidently detects her presence. This disturbs the Valkyrie as mortals shouldn't be able to sense an immortal when they are ghosting, that is invisible on the mortal plane. She worries that this group of mortals is having too much contact with immortals.

Kata is rendered speechless when she arrives at her house, and Leif tells her what Sigrún said without mentioning the Valkyries name: Dagur lives. She realizes that Dagur is alive but dying, indicating that he is slowly being tortured to death by Alvin and is likely still on Outcast. This makes her furious because she didn't realize that Dagur was still alive while she was on Outcast.

Kata instantly choses to rescue him, and develops a plan. She will send Jodi, the tribe's healer, with Merrik and his dragon on the captured pirate flagship to Outcast. While they go, Kata will head to Berk under the guise of renewing the old peace treaty between their tribes. This will distract them, and allow her kin to strike at Alvin without interference.

Leif is initially surprised by her rapid response and agrees that would work, but then the insanity in Kata's blood finally appears. Kata says that's not her full plan. After Dagur is retrieved, the flagship rendezvous with them at Berk and with the Berserker fleet Kata will take with her. At that signal, Kata will duplicate their victory with the pirates.

Put simply, she will utilize a 100% casualty rate and kill everyone on Berk and Outcast as revenge for the Berserkers defeat and Dagur. Alvin tortured him, and Hiccup and Stoick agreed to leave him there. No one from either tribe will survive if she has her way.

She vows this she will do, and Odin hears her vow. It scares Odin, and he is grateful that she is only a mortal. Odin finally understands why Kata wears Loki's symbol. She is just like him: helpful, playful, and malicious in turn.

In fact, she is more terrifying then Loki because unlike Loki Kata believes she is doing the right thing. At least Loki knew he was doing the wrong thing in his actions. She was planning to exterminate two tribes and leave no survivors, and she thought she was doing the right thing.

 **Next:**

 **PART 2: BLOODSHED:**


	19. The God's View

**PART 2: BLOODSHED**

The slippered footsteps of Eir, the Goddess of healing, were soft on the golden floor of Gladsheimr, Odin's palace. Eir respectfully approached Odin's throne and kneeled in front of the steps that led to it. After a few seconds, she raised her head and met Odin's impassive gaze.

"Allfather," Eir addressed him calmly. "Why have you summoned me? Is there something I can do for you?"

"Yes," Odin assured her, "there is. Why did you interfere in the human's affairs? I already have Loki doing that, I do not need another Æsir following in his steps."

Odin tapped the end of his golden spear Gungnir against the platform his throne was on, and the air distorted near Eir's position. She stood and watched as an image of Midgard appeared in a viewing portal. It showed one of the islands in the Barbaric Archipelago, Berk, if Eir wasn't mistaken. Normally the gods wouldn't know such meager things as the names of mortal tribes that would rise and fall hundreds of times, but Loki had brought the gods' attention to the mortals.

The image of Berk Odin had conjured refocused to one of the huts in the village, and showed a blonde human girl in her mid-teens. She was sitting up in bed eating a thin broth to regain her strength. There were a few others from Berk sitting around her as she ate, filling her in on what she had missed while she had been in her coma.

"Ah," Eir understood now. "You mean me healing the human girl Astrid Hofferson."

"Yes," Odin agreed. "Why did you interfere? She should never have recovered from her coma."

"Considering the circumstances surrounding Loki's pet humans, I thought it be a wise precaution," Eir admitted and looked away from the image of Berk. "Kata is planning to massacre two tribes, and I believe she will do so given the chance. The girl I healed is vital to Berk's line of dragon defense, as well as the second in command of the riders. I thought I should at least make sure Kata's targets are at full strength, and make it a fair fight."

"A fair fight," Odin sighed and dismissed the image of Midgard.

Odin supposed that he couldn't blame Eir, who held each life in such high regard, for trying to give the rest of the Archipelago a chance against the newest threat. By healing Astrid, Berk's dragon riders and their defense had been returned to its full strength. Eir wanted to give them a chance at standing Kata's fury, fury reinforced by Loki's blessing.

"I not only drew Astrid's consciousness from the shadow world, but quickened her healing," Eir continued. "Not so much that the humans would believe an immortal interfered, but enough that by the time Kata reaches Berk she will be at full strength. Since Berk is between Berserk and Outcast, and only Berk has trained dragons, Kata will eliminate Berk first. If Berk repulse her, she won't risk going to Outcast and being caught between Outcast and Berk. All we need to do stop her from defeating Berk."

"I see where you are coming from," Odin assured Eir, "But it is not our place to interfere. If one mortal tribe wishes to wipe out two more then we should let them."

"The Berserkers have not done so on their own though," Eir reminded Odin. "The only reason they are targeting the other tribes now is because Loki interfered with them. Someone told them Dagur was still alive, and Loki has been helping them survive disasters through the mortal he touched so their strength has been steadily growing."

"Oh I am well aware of the external interference," Odin promised her. "It was one of Hela's Valkyries told the Berserkers about Dagur's survival."

Odin was infuriated that Loki and his children were still managing to go around him without trouble, and even more frustrated that his children were acting like him. As the Goddess over the dead, Hela didn't obey Odin, and although relations between her and her father were somewhat strained she would still listen to him over Odin. Her Valkyries appeared to have picked up on her habit.

"While I am thinking of Loki's children," Odin added, "Váli, Nari, come out at once."

Eir raised her head curiously when Odin said that. "Váli and Nari?"

She turned at the sensation of magic vanishing, and saw an invisibility charm ripple and disappear in a glimmer of emerald-gold magic. The charm revealed two brothers as it vanished, Loki's two most human looking children. Both had inherited their father's raven black hair, too pale skin, and slim, lean build.

"Hey," Váli scowled and crossed his arms over his chest. "How'd you know we were here? Nari, I thought you said you got the hang of the cloaking charm!"

"I did," Nari looked up at his taller brother. "Can't you see how surprised Eir is?"

Váli glanced over to where Eir did indeed stand in surprise.

"I guess I'm not at father's level yet since Odin can detect me." Nari looked down at Odin's stern one-eyed glare and added softly, "not yet anyway."

Váli and Nari were interesting brothers. Neither were an overwhelming threat to Asgard's security alone, but when they worked together their strengths covered each other's weaknesses and their personalities balanced out. This meant that unlike their father, they didn't have an obvious weakness.

Nari was an extraordinarily gifted mage despite only being a few centuries old, and it was clear that he would surpass Loki's skill in magic before he finished growing up. Unlike his father and brother, he had no disdain of water and loved going down to Asgard's harbor and watching the boats. Due to the gentle nature he had inherited from his mother Sigyn, he had no wish to cause strife, so despite his overwhelming power he wasn't a serious threat to Asgard's safety.

Váli was just the opposite. His mischievous and vindictive personality was just like Loki's, but he had not inherited his father's magic. Although he had his father's ability to shapeshift, something Nari lacked, and despite knowing how to shapeshift into a wolf, he could not cause much trouble on his own. It was only when Nari helped him that things became dangerous.

Although Nari would make an acceptable citizen of Asgard, his father and brother would not. At some point, Odin would need to find a way to separate him from them. So far though, none of Váli's tricks had been dangerous enough to warrant placing him in the dungeon beside Loki.

"What are you two doing?" Odin demanded, though he was sure he already knew.

Vali stepped forward in front of Nari as he always did, forcing Odin's gaze to leave Nari. "We wanted to ask you to release father from the dungeons, but we heard you talking about the human world. The Berserkers are the tribe father is supporting. What's happening with them?"

"Their chief plans to massacre the two tribes that were involved in Dagur's kidnapping and incarceration," Odin told them without hesitation. "One of your older sister's Valkyries told them Dagur was still alive, but dying. That seems to have been the trigger."

Nari stood a little straighter when Odin said that and looked at Váli. Váli narrowed his eyes, lavender like Sigyn's instead of Loki's emerald, and it was a somewhat curious look. As ever, Nari waited patiently, emerald-golden eyes even more beautiful than his father's emerald-black ones. When Váli spoke next, Nari couldn't help but be a little surprised.

"So what?" Váli asked Odin with a shrug. "How is it our concern if mortals want to kill each other? They're always killing each other. What makes this different?"

There was no doubt Nari had Sigyn's gentle heart as he looked down with a serious expression at the floor. Like his father, he took no pleasure in large-scale slaughter. His brother could care less one way or the other though, yet another difference between them.

"The coming bloodshed would not have happened if not for your father's interference," Odin informed Váli tartly. "Had Kata learned her brother was still on Outcast after his death she would not have the fury she does now. The Berserkers wouldn't have their current sense of superiority if they had not so flawless defeated the pirates as they did thanks to Loki's warning. Along with that, Kata knows the advantage of having Leif by her side since Loki enhanced him."

"Surely one mortal cannot tip the scales so much," Eir asked Odin in disbelief. "With Loki trapped, he cannot give the mortal visions anymore."

Odin hummed and shook his head slowly. "You have forgotten Eir. Leif has the aura of a god, which is why the dragons bow before him as if he were Loki. I am unsure how far Leif's abilities are in that field, but it is likely that he is the human equivalent of an Alpha dragon. Berserk's dragons obey him as the alpha of the island, and it is possible he can sway other dragons to obey him against their own will."

"Like a dragon king," Nari said softly. "Berk's main defense depends is their dragons, and you're saying Leif can turn their dragons against them?"

"It is possible," Odin agreed. "Which is why I don't believe healing one of Berk's riders was of very high importance."

Eir looked a little surprised by the biting edge in his voice and turned her twilight dark gaze down, properly abashed.

"There isn't much more to be done about the situation on Midgard," Odin admitted, "and yet you boys want me to release your father early?"

"Yes," Váli promised and took a step forward, displaying the same stubborn courage Kata had. "Our father had nothing to do with Kata's decision to take revenge for the sake of her family."

Odin sighed. He wasn't surprised that Váli cared so little since it was only mortals involved, but it was still startling to see his disdain. Váli was about the equivalent a human ten year old, and Nari about eight. They were still children.

"Oh?" Odin chuckled, and looked away as he thought about it. "I might be willing to release him."

"Allfather," Eir hissed under her breath.

If Loki was freed then there was no doubt that he would interfere in affairs on Midgard yet again, especially now that his Berserker tribe was about to go to war. Unlike the last war a few months ago, Loki would not stand down. He would help the Berserkers this time, perhaps even in person. It would not be the first time he had wandered around Berserk and said hello in person to the people who lived in the village, and this time he wouldn't hide the fact he was a god.

"What do you want us to do?" Nari asked in his soft voice. "Do you want us to attack the Berserker tribe? I'm afraid father hasn't taught me much by way of combat magic, nor would I do so. That would lead to even more slaughter, and father would be upset if we attacked his tribe on _your_ orders, Allfather."

Nari's voice was soft and gentle, a sharp comparison to Váli's loud and blunt arrogance, but his words were even sharper. They might sound respectful on the surface, but Odin heard the disrespectful slur Nari put on the word 'your' as if Odin's orders weren't worth following. Only when he addressed Odin did he slur his words like that. For sure he had a gentle and smile and disposition, but he had inherited his father's Jötunn fangs, and even without training in combat magic he had a fearful bite. It wasn't often a child as sympathetic as Nari bared his fangs, but he had done so to Odin before where his father was involved.

"No," Odin agreed with Nari, knowing that asking him to betray his father would end with him honing his magic to a killing edge. "Your older sister Hela will not turn her younger brothers away. I want you to go to her and ask which Valkyrie told Kata her brother lived."

The brothers looked surprised by the Allfather's words.

"Speak to sister," Váli repeated.

"If we do, will you vow to release father early?" Nari asked, ever the more diplomatic of the two, just like his father.

Odin was reluctant to give his word because he knew he would be bound to keep it, but also knowing it was the only chance he stood to have the children help him. "I vow as such. Once you get me the name of the Valkyrie, I will release your father."

"Good," Váli interrupted. "Come on Nari. Let's go speak to Hela."

"Yes brother," Nari said obediently and turned away from Odin.

Neither of Loki's humanoid children bowed to Odin as they left, but Loki never did either. There was no doubt in Odin's mind that those two boys were going to be a handful when they got older. Odin dismissed Eir with a wave of his hand and then conjured up an image of Berserk on Midgard once they were gone. As he watched, he was aware of Tyr, his general, approaching the throne.

Kata had solidified her earlier plan and although she was leaving some of her forces behind to defend the village, the majority were heading North to Berk. Her fleet had been split into two. While Kata was aboard the standard fleet of longships heading straight for Berk, her dragon rider and healer were aboard the captured pirate flagship that had been sent to Outcast earlier.

Kata would keep Berk busy, and the pirate flagship would rescue Dagur. With the Berserker's keeping Berk busy, Berk would have no way to notice the flagship was going around them. Once Dagur was safely out of harm's way, Berk would be Kata's for the burning AND Outcast after that. It wouldn't be long now until Kata's main fleet reached Berk, and only a little longer than that before Dagur was rescued.

Odin looked at the image of Kata standing on the bow of the lead longship of the fleet she was with. She now wore her winter clothing, a jacket over her a long-sleeved tunic and full-length pants instead of Capri's and a sleeveless tunic. Standing next to her was a white-haired Berserker boy– Leif, present to help her handle Berk's dragons just as Odin knew he would be.

Tyr chuckled softly as he looked them over. "I suppose we can't blame Loki for all of this. It looks to me that Kata really didn't need encouragement. Leave it to Loki to find a mortal copy of himself."

"Indeed," Odin said somberly as Tyr laughed. "It would have come to slaughter with or without Loki. That is how this Kata is."

Leif straightened suddenly beside Kata, and narrowed his snow-white eyebrows, blinking eyelashes that were the same color. "The gods are laughing."

Tyr stopped chuckling with a choking noise and stared at Leif through the portal. "H-he… Exactly what did Loki do to him?"

"Is that a good thing?" Kata looked away from the waves to her young friend.

"It might be," Leif admitted. "The laughter of the gods does not guarantee our goodwill though, especially considering who is laughing."

Odin stared at Leif as well, and Tyr gawked.

"Loki gave that mortal far too much power," Tyr muttered.

Agreed, Odin thought. Kata smiled wryly when Leif glanced up directly at the two watching Asgardians and then back over the waters. Leif was going directly with Kata to get a feel for Berk's dragons before the battle, something he did not hesitate to do. His belittling of the gods was a pleasant side effect to him. If the gods did not stick their fingers into Berserk's business so much then he would not get so many chances to scorn them.

"Total victory," Kata whispered onboard the ship with a wry smile, a promise.

Odin straightened in his throne, surprised to hear her say that. Tyr did not understand the importance of those words, but Odin had heard them before. Total victory… Those two words had once been spoken so casually to her. It made Odin wonder when he heard her repeat those words. Had learning Dagur was still alive, but nearly tortured to death truly been the trigger to this bloodlust? Or had it been those two words?

* * *

 **Vorg's words to Kata in chapter six have caught up to the situation. There is a timeskip between this and the last chapter, but only about a week since they have to hurry and get Dagur before he dies. The gods are asking for this since they're so nosy, partially because of Loki, and they well deserve a lesson. It's amusing to see a mortal trounce a god.**


	20. Greetings

Hiccup stood on a cliff at Berk that overlooked the sea with Toothless sitting calmly beside him. The midmorning light was warm and soft, and both of them were waiting for Astrid to return from her patrol. It was her first patrol since that rogue rider with the bow had shot her down, and they were waiting for her patiently. There was movement on the horizon, and Hiccup looked out with his spyglass towards it.

"It's her," Hiccup said aloud as the spyglass focused on Astrid and Stormfly, "and Astrid's fine."

With that worry gone, Hiccup was free to think back to his other worries as he tucked his spyglass out of sight once more. The most curious thing had happened a few days ago, and the event still made the hair on the back of Hiccup's neck stand on end. Arngrim Dammen of the Northlander Tribe had stopped by Berk on his way back to the Shivering Shores after visiting Berserk. According to his story, Kata had managed to fend off a direct attack from an armada without losing a single ship of her own. Her harbor overflowing with the hulls of pirate ships had been all the proof Arngrim had needed to see. She had allowed the pirates to make landfall and invade her village, and then boxed them in the harbor with her fleet. Every ship had been burned, and every single pirate slain. Kata had sounded quite proud, according to Arngrim, when she had announced the terms of her victory.

Hiccup fended off a shiver that appeared, thinking that Arngrim's story was a better description of Dagur then Kata, but Kata it had been. Her victory had earned her the allegiance of her Berserkers, something Dagur had lost after numerous defeats, and it seemed that Arngrim had almost been scared when he was describing Kata. It didn't sound at all like the girl that had accompanied her father and brother to Berk for the annual peace signing.

Hiccup had always believed Kata was the more rational of Oswald's children, and he didn't believe that she would openly start a slaughter. It just wasn't Kata. Her doing something like that didn't match with her smile. At least that was Hiccup's hope because after hearing about the fate of the pirate fleet he wasn't sure he wanted to face the Berserkers in another war with such a competent chief.

Stormfly was making straight for Hiccup, and Hiccup stood straight when he realized that Stormfly was flying quickly. He glanced over at his saddle to make sure his shield was present, and then back to sea as Stormfly drew close enough for Astrid to call out.

"Hiccup!" Astrid shouted. "I think we might have a problem!"

Stormfly pulled up so she was hovering a few feet from the cliff's edge, close enough so Hiccup could notice how bright Astrid's eyes looked. It was not the brightness of awareness, but fear. His thoughts darted back to Arngrim's story about Kata.

"What sort of problem?" Hiccup asked her in a tone both wary and worried.

"There's a fleet inbound for Berk, about a day out from us," Astrid told him rapidly. "They've come from the South."

Hiccup narrowed his eyes. "Let me guess what design is on their sail…"

"Skrill," Astrid nodded.

Hiccup wished he could be more surprised that the Berserkers had appeared, and asked quietly. "Did you see Kata?"

"I think I did on the lead ship, but I didn't get close enough to see." Astrid glanced behind her. "Hiccup, we're still not sure if Kata is a friend or enemy of Berk. Dagur is dead because we left him with Alvin."

Hiccup nodded briskly in agreement and then hurriedly mounted onto Toothless's saddle. Toothless knelt down and spread his wings as Hiccup locked his prostatic leg onto the stirrup. Once the tailfin was confirmed to be able to open, Toothless ran off the cliff in a bounding leap and snapped out his wings. The air caught them and Toothless was soon flying beside Stormfly as Astrid guided them to the approaching Berserkers.

Toothless and Stormfly flew near the puffy white clouds that dotted the sky, out of immediate reach of crossbows or bolas if Kata was here for war. It took little enough time to reach the fleet by dragon, and Hiccup returned his spyglass to the saddlebag. His shield on his back reflected the light brightly, and he hissed softly as he exhaled at the sight that greeted him. There was not one or two Berserker ships approaching. No, from the looks of how many ships there were, Kata had brought most of the armada with her. He swallowed and turned in the saddle towards Astrid after a few seconds.

"Astrid," Hiccup called out. "I'm going to fly down and speak to Kata. You stay up here in case they attack me."

"What if they do?" Astrid demanded.

"I'll avoid it and fly back up to meet you," Hiccup assured her. "In case they do manage to down me, head back to Berk and warn my dad that there's an attack coming."

Astrid gave him an unamused look. "Ah Hiccup, I don't think that counts as a plan."

"I truly don't think Kata will attack me," Hiccup explained. "This is just in case I'm wrong."

Astrid glared at him, but Hiccup shrugged and folded in Toothless's tailfin slightly so they could dive down to greet the ships. He circled the flagship once calmly, and waved at them to let them know he was here and that he wasn't going to ambush them. As he expected, crossbows were raised and people started shouting.

"Shut up!" Kata shouted from aboard the flagship as she stalked across the deck. "Stars, don't you think if he was going to attack he would have launched an ambush? That's a Strike-Class dragon's specialty!"

"But Kata," Arin said softly, "that's…"

"I know," Kata promised in a voice too soft for Hiccup to hear, "but we have to stall until Dagur's rescued. We can't kill him, not yet anyway."

"Right," Arin muttered.

"Hiccup!" Kata called up to rider. "I assume you don't want to attack since you haven't already?"

Hiccup exhaled in relief when Kata called up to him, and he called back down. "That's right. My riders told me it looked like you were heading for Berk. Should I be worried?"

"No," Kata assured him, and then faked a bright smile. "Why don't you come down here so we can speak easier then shouting?"

Hiccup was reluctant to land, so Kata turned her head and glared at her Berserkers. Her gaze was impatiently vicious. She needed to earn Berk's trust before the attack. Things would get very bloody if Berk had enough warning to prepare a defense against her fleet, and if they had a chance to mount a defense then Berserkers could die. They realized what she wanted and lowered their crossbows and bolas almost shyly.

"You might as well come," Kata told Hiccup as her men stood down. "After all, the other rider is still hovering out of range. If we strike at you then she can go ahead and warn Berk. Why would I do something so foolish? It's not as if I have any dragon riders of my own to chase her down."

The mix of truth with the story made it easy for Hiccup to nod after deliberation and looked down at Toothless. "Come on bud. I don't think Kata means us any harm."

Toothless made a noise that he wasn't sure, remembering his past meetings with Berserkers. He flew down after a moment's hesitation and landed on the deck of the ship Kata stood on. Some of the Berserkers took a step back when the Nightfury landed, hesitantly half-raising and then lowering their weapons. None of them attacked though, a testament to Kata's control over them.

"Hello Hiccup," Kata greeted him and boldly took a step towards the Nightfury. "It's been several years since our last meeting."

"Kata," Hiccup returned the greeting, not quite confident enough to leave Toothless's saddle. "How did you know it was me?"

"Tales have spread of the boy who trained a Nightfury," Kata promised him with a chuckle. "I suppose Trick gave me away."

The Terrible Terror draped around her shoulders shifted at his name, but didn't get up. Kata stood straighter then she did during her last visit with a new aura of confidence and power, but otherwise looked mostly the same. She wore a tanned animal skin jacket lined with white fur around the hems and cuffs, and had a shield on her back similar to Hiccup's own, although with a Skrill instead of a Nightfury. A light blue ribbon still tied her bangs back, and there was a pair of daggers sheathed on her thighs. It was impossible to see how many throwing knives she had thanks to her jacket, but Hiccup knew she would have quite a few.

"You are correct," Kata told Hiccup strongly. "We are heading for Berk, and should be in sight of it by nightfall if this wind holds."

"You are going to Berk then," Hiccup said seriously. "Why?"

This was going to be the delicate part, and Kata knew it. "I assume that by now Arngrim has already passed Berk and told you about the pirates."

"He did," Hiccup nodded a little warily. "According to him, you didn't lose a single ship."

"Correct," Kata confirmed.

She seemed to realize that the Berserkers were still staring at the Toothless, so she turned and glared at them. They scuffled away from her look and returned to their duties so the ship would continue to skim over the waves on the way to Berk. Some kept watch over the visitors, but the number of eyes decreased.

"We realized the pirate fleet was approaching before they attacked so we had some time to prepare a welcome for them," Kata explained. "During that time, I thought about possibly reaching out to our allies, and then realized we don't have any allies. Any allies we had broke their alliance with us during the recent war."

"After my show with the pirates, the other tribes in the south lost their will to cause trouble," Kata smiled, and _that_ smile was not one Hiccup had seen Kata with before. "However, things are different to the North. Since I don't wish to marry Arngrim Dammen that limits my options of northern allies. Berk came to mind."

Hiccup couldn't help but lean back in the saddle in surprise. Kata wanted to make an alliance with Berk after everything Dagur had done? Her logic was sound, but the idea sounded ridiculous to Hiccup. Toothless gave a slight growl, either because he understood the suggestion and didn't like it or because he detected Hiccup's unease.

"I know things have been tense between my tribe and yours, but Berk and Berserk were once close allies," Kata continued and lowered her head sadly. "We had an alliance between our tribes for thirty years, and we've been at peace for fifty. Dagur changed things, but as chief, I want to ensure peace and security for my tribe. The best way to do that is to make sure the entire Archipelago is at peace."

Hiccup silently thought Kata's calm plea for peace over. Part of him was relieved that Kata was still Kata, and that she wasn't the type to go berserk like Dagur. Another part of him remembered the war, and was wary to trust the Berserker. Was it better to be cautious, or to trust Kata? Stoick had mentioned finding a way to "bury the hatchet" with the Berserkers, and reforming the old alliance _would_ be one way to do that.

"I have no wish to repeat myself," Kata sighed, "so I will explain to Stoick if you let me approach Berk. You can escort me, and I'll leave most of the fleet outside the harbor if you wish."

"Why did you bring the fleet?" Hiccup decided to ask instead of answering.

"As I said," Kata repeated with a wry smile. "We do not have many allies. The north has not learned as the south has that my tribe is not to be taken lightly. My refusal to marry Arngrim may have made things tense, and I did not relish the idea of facing an ambush with a small force. For my safety, I thought it best to bring a larger number of ships."

Hiccup turned the proposition over in his mind. This was _not_ the way he had expected to meet Kata again after all these years. Letting her into Berk's harbor might not be the wisest idea, but he wasn't sure he had a choice. There was no way for him and Astrid to stop the fleet, so it might be better to welcome them in peace then to ruffle their feathers by trying to force them away.

"All right," Hiccup finally agreed with a nod. "Stay on your present course and Astrid will guide you to the village. I'll fly ahead and tell Stoick about this. Once my father gives me instructions I will relay them to you."

"Very well," Kata tipped her head to him in a minor bow, something she had neglected to do to Odin. "Considering Dagur's past actions and that I am the uninvited intruder, I shall do as Stoick suggests."

There was a silent _for now_ on the end of her sentence that Hiccup caught. He hadn't given it any thought before, but Kata was now a chief, an equal to Stoick. She could only listen to Stoick the Vast so much before having to assert her own authority to avoid looking weak and submissive. It complicated things, but Hiccup had Toothless take off anyway. He needed to tell Astrid of the plan and inform his father of this unexpected development. Political territory was not Hiccup's forte.

Hiccup spoke to Astrid, and then Toothless went ahead of the ships to head to Berk. The Deadly Natter remained near the fleet, and Kata afforded herself a small, quick smile. She was astounded the Hiccup was so naïvely trusting of her after what they did to Dagur. Stoick's son didn't even suspect that there subterfuge was afoot.

She touched the pendent with Loki's crest that was tucked under her tunic, and then idly ran her fingers across the scar on her collarbone from where Oswald had struck her with his sword. Dagur had _always_ saved her, but this time she would save him. After she saved him, she would teach the Archipelago a lesson they would never forget about what happened when you challenged the Berserkers. Berk's trusting nature was just making things easier.

* * *

 **Now titans will clash and gods will watch. If Kata gets her wish, every member of the Outcast and Berkian tribes will be slaughtered. So it begins.**


	21. Two Chiefs

Stoick stood on the dock as the Berserker longship was tied down. Its blue paint scheme was accented by the black dragon on the sail, and a gangplank was lowered to the dock once it was secured. Standing next to Stoick were Gobber, Hiccup, and Toothless. Although only one ship approached, the rest of the fleet waited outside the harbor. The other riders were saddled up nearby, watching the armada should the Berserkers be up to something nefarious.

Stoick saw a flash of bright red hair on the deck, and Kata suddenly stepped around the main mast into view. She was young, maybe two years younger than Hiccup, and already chief. For such a young child to take on such responsibility saddened Stoick, but she had already proven she was could handle the burden of a chief.

Kata approached the gangplank, and gave a little jump when Vorg started speaking to introduce her. Her dragon draped around her shoulders raised his head and stared at the Berserker as Vorg raised his voice.

Vorg didn't seem to notice the surprise of his chief or her dragon. "Presenting the High Chief of the Berserker tribe, sister of Dagur the Deranged, destroyer of fleets, Kata Oswalddottir!"

Kata approached the gangplank when Vorg finished with a glance at him, having recovered from the surprise of her sudden introduction. She jumped lightly onto the edge of the ship and stepped onto the gangplank without the aid of her Berserkers despite her small size. Calmly, she walked to Berk's dock.

"Stoick the Vast," Kata greeted him respectfully.

"Kata Oswalddottir," Stoick returned in the same respectful tone, a little surprised that she didn't have a title after her first name. "Your visit is unexpected to say the least."

"I suppose it is," Kata mused agreement. "May I assume your son already told you of the reason behind my visit?"

"You want to renew the peace treaty between our tribes," Stoick nodded, a little wary. "I heard."

"No need to be so vigilant," Kata scolded Stoick with a smile at his cautious tone. "I am not here for war. As I explained to Hiccup, Dagur has… damaged our alliances with other tribes. I thought since Berk and Berserk have been allies for the past 30 years, barring last year, you might be willing to hear me out."

Stoick looked over her armada, assured now that what Hiccup had learned on Outcast was true. Kata had defeated Alvin in single combat and then weathered a full assault by an enemy armada without losing a single ship. Her confidence was not self-indulgence, but earned from victory. The Berserkers were a threat again, perhaps even more then they had been under Dagur's leadership. His original idea of keeping the Berserkers at arm's reach might not be the wisest plan anymore. It might be safer for them to be Berk's allies and prevent future trouble.

"I understand why you would come here Kata," Stoick agreed, "but I am surprised as well after Dagur's death."

"Dagur died in Alvin's custody," Kata curled her left hand into a fist, fingernails digging into her palm. "I doubt you knew that would happen, so I cannot hold you entirely accountable."

Even if she didn't have a grudge against Berk, which Stoick found unlikely, she _would_ hold Alvin accountable. Berk had an alliance with Alvin, so things could get messy if he formed an alliance with the Berserkers and then they attacked Outcast. Then again, a treaty might be the only way to safeguard Berk from a Berserker attack. He was assuming of course that Kata would honor the treaty, and although she would in the past, he wasn't sure how much she had changed.

"I do not hold my brother's death against you," Kata lied smoothly through her teeth. "My visit was unscheduled so you couldn't hide your dragons from me as you did to Dagur, although I doubt you can blame me for being cautious."

Stoick supposed he didn't blame her. The war with the Berserkers that had ended with Dagur imprisoned on Outcast had _begun_ when Berk had lied to Dagur about training dragons. Although Stoick hadn't given it much thought before, he realized the war wasn't entirely Dagur's fault. Some of the blame lay with him for ordering the dragons to be hid. From the slight note of venom in Kata's voice when she spoke, she probably knew that to.

"There is plenty of blame to go around over the war… on both sides," Stoick admitted, that being as much of an apology as he felt like giving Kata for defending Berk from her deranged brother.

"Then you will agree to a treaty?" Kata asked Stoick calmly, her dragon turning one of its crimson eyes to Berk's chief.

Kata wasn't giving Stoick much time to think about it, and he _needed_ time to think about it. He needed to stall.

"I will think it over," Stoick said noncommittedly. "Since you are already here Kata, how about a tour of the village? I will give you my answer tonight during dinner in the Great Hall."

Kata gave it a seconds thought and then nodded agreement. "That will do."

A tour of Berk would give her its layout so she would know exactly which targets to hit, so she was hardly going to say no. Stalling would also work in her favor as it would give Merrik and the others time to rescue Dagur. Kata motioned for Willem and Vorg to accompany her, and then Stoick turned and began to lead the three of them towards the village.

Kata stopped in front of Toothless unexpectedly, and glanced past Hiccup to Toothless. "He is a beautiful dragon Hiccup, and if what the Berserkers tell me is true, quite an asset on the battlefield. Is his name really Toothless?"

"Yes," Hiccup nodded and stepped to one side so Kata could look at him better.

Toothless had his ears lowered, but he blissfully didn't growl at Kata and make the situation even tenser then it already was. He knew she carried the scent of the Berserkers and that she looked an awful lot like Dagur, but her scent wasn't soaked in dragon blood as her brother's had been. The dragon on Kata's shoulders was proof that she respected the dragons, an improvement over her brother, but something still bothered him about her… What was it though?

Stoick waited patiently as she turned away from the Nightfury and resumed following him.

"I can see why Dagur was so interested in that dragon," Kata mused with a smile.

Stoick wasn't sure how to respond to her backhanded compliment, so didn't say anything.

"My father never did have any interest in training dragons," Kata sighed as she walked beside Stoick, "foolish to the end."

Stoick almost cringed when she said that, unable to believe that Kata was also going to speak so poorly of Oswald. Did neither of his children know proper respect?

"You wish I hadn't said that," Kata observed. "You actually think that _Oswald was a great man, and that you'll not have me disrespect him_ , right? That's what Dagur said you told him."

"Am I wrong?" Stoick asked, thinking he had her with that question.

Kata smiled without missing a step, and replied in a calm serious voice, "yes."

Stoick drew his eyebrows together, disliking the fact she was slurring Oswald's name.

"It's not just because he lost his taste for blood," Kata assured Stoick. "How do I put this so you'll understand? I don't believe that Dagur ever told you directly, but I'm sure you guessed that by now my brother killed Oswald."

"That conclusion did come to mind," Stoick agreed in a slow tone.

"If Dagur hadn't killed Oswald when he had," Kata explained with a surprisingly level voice, "Oswald would have killed me."

Stoick stopped walking at those words, but Kata didn't. She walked several steps before she realized the great Chief of Berk had stopped, and turned to face him with calm curiosity.

"Dagur killed Oswald, the person you claim was a _great man_ , so Oswald wouldn't kill me," Kata repeated in a scornful tone. "He was protecting me."

"Oswald?" Stoick asked seriously. "Are you certain?"

She smiled and laughed lightly, a laugh that sent a small chill down Hiccup's spine. "I'm certain."

Kata brushed the right side of her jacket off her shoulder and tugged down her blue collar to reveal the scar on the collarbone. Stoick looked at it for a moment and then his eyes widened when he recognized that the scar had been made by a sword. His first guess was that it was from Dagur, but then a more terrifying thought choked him.

"This isn't the first time Oswald's did something like this either," Kata turned her head so he could see the scar easier. "This is just the first time it scarred. When Dagur found out that Oswald had hurt me, he went to track him down. If Dagur's friends hadn't caught up to him then Oswald would have been killed several years ago instead of last year."

"That's from a sword," Stoick said seriously. "You're implying that Oswald gave you that scar?"

"Aye," Kata agreed. "He's thrown his sword at Dagur to. You should have seen some of the scars on my brother's back. Dagur always said Oswald was so busy being agreeable to everyone else that he had no patience leftover when it came to dealing with us."

Stoick looked at the scar on her chest as Kata released the cloth and it vanished from sight. She tugged her jacket back in place with a dark look at Stoick.

"So please Stoick," Kata asked him calmly, "don't speak about my father in such high regard around me again. You're fortunate Dagur has as much self-control as he did and that he didn't snap at you when you started _defending_ Oswald in front of him. I assure you, I do not have my brother's patience for such things."

Kata turned away from Stoick sharply and resumed walking. Stoick just stood there for a second until Gobber tapped him on his shoulder and jolted him from his daze. He glanced at Gobber, his friend seeming just as surprised as Stoick was about Kata's confession, and then caught up to Kata so he was walking a little in front of her. An uncomfortable silence fell between the two parties.

If Kata's story was true, and she had no reason to lie about something like that, then it explained Dagur's irritable behavior when he had come to renew the peace treaty. Stoick had scolded Dagur for discrediting Oswald like a child, and then they toasted Oswald and told Dagur he was wrong. Perhaps Stoick was more to blame for what had come next then he realized.

Kata could tell Stoick was turning her words over, but even if he regretted how he had acted, it didn't change anything. Dagur was still trapped in Alvin's dungeon, dying. Nothing Stoick said could ensure Dagur would be alive when Kata next saw him. Hopefully, Stoick wouldn't mention her "father" to her again.

The thought of her brother made her eyes darken, and reminded her why she was doing this. She tried not to worry about things even though she did. It had left before them, had taken a straight course, and hadn't been forced to sail only as fast as the slowest ship in the fleet. Since the wind seemed to be holding, a fact that amazed Kata since it meant Odin wasn't sabotaging her again, they should reach Outcast in a few days. Everything was going according to plan.

Leif was still hidden below _Wolfwind_ 's deck, getting the _feel_ for Berk's dragons or something like that. He should be ready to use his god-touched aura and make the dragons bow to him as if he was their alpha, although he still wasn't sure if that would work. That was the only catch, and Kata knew she couldn't rely on Leif in this battle.

They should be ready to move on to Outcast in three or four days, leaving Berk in ashes behind her. If things really went as they should then by the time her fleet returned home with Dagur her people on Berserk would have gotten the needed information from Ingrid about the pirates. Depending on how much the shield-maiden knew, they might be able to find the island that served as the pirate's base and eliminate them as well.

To have all of Berserk's enemies eliminated in one fell swoop and to have her brother back home… that would be Kata's total victory.

Of course, she was assuming that everything would go according to plan.

* * *

 **I'm sure most of you out there know how dangerous it is to make that assumption. Part of me is surprised that Odin isn't interfering with the Berserkers. It is like him to do something like that, trust me.**


	22. Negotiations

Kata stood on a cliff overlooking the sea, the hem of her jacket rustling slightly in the sea breeze. The rhythmic sound of waves crashing against the shore sounded just like it did on Berserk, something Kata was pleasantly surprised by. Berk had its similarities, but it was not home.

Trick chirped to let Kata know someone was approaching, and she glanced over her shoulder slightly, not surprised by the identity of her visitor. "Hello Stoick."

"Kata," Stoick greeted as he came to stand next to her.

It was blissfully quiet for a moment, but only for a moment.

"I was a little surprised to find you had slipped away from your party," Stoick admitted.

"I'm very good at moving around unnoticed," Kata mused, a ghost of a smile drifting across her lips. "I didn't see a reason to return to the ship though, or to head up to your Great Hall."

"How did you like Berk?" Stoick asked, referring to the tour that was now concluded.

"It is like home, but not," Kata looked over the endless waves with a softness to her jewel-colored eyes. "Your dragon arena has become a dragon school and it is very cold, but otherwise things are the same."

"Cold?" Stoick asked in surprise. "It is a little early in spring, but the snow has melted already."

"It is cold for me," Kata corrected. "Berserk is a great deal more to the south then Berk is."

Her explanation caused another lapse of silence, and again Stoick broke it.

"Why are you here, Kata?" Stoick asked her without looking away from the waves.

One of the blades hidden within the sleeve of her jacket slid down to her palm, but Kata didn't draw it fully. "I already told you why. It would be wise for my tribe to have an ally in the north. Any chance I had of forming one with the Northlanders is gone."

"You're lying," Stoick said in a light tone.

Kata tightened her fingers on the grip of her blade. "Meaning what?"

"You could have visited another tribe such as the Thunderheads," Stoick pointed out. "There isn't any bad blood between you and them, not like there is between our tribes."

"Perhaps that bad blood is the reason I came here," Kata responded indirectly. "You Hairy Hooligans are the largest tribe here. The Bog-Burglars, Meathead, and even the Bashem Oiks all have alliances with you. You also have the dragons. Speaking from a purely political point of view, you would make the best ally out of all the tribes here."

"But you have an emotional stake in this as well," Stoick pointed out, "don't you Kata? What happened to your brother is partially our fault."

"I'm aware of it," Kata assured him and gave a rueful smile. "I'm very much aware of it. However if I hold onto that hatred then I risk alienating your tribe, and as I said, your tribe is the dominant one in the north."

"You're getting into political territory again," Stoick reminded her.

Kata was the first to look away from the waves and face Stoick, teeth set and lips tightened into a hard line that didn't suit her youthful features. "What do you want me to say? That I hate you and your people? Because I do."

Her vicious venom startled Stoick despite the fact that he had been asking for it, and he glanced at Kata briefly as she turned back out to the waves.

"I do," Kata repeated, "but my tribe can't afford to hate you. As I've already said several times, your tribe is the dominant one in this area. Your allies look up to you. I have to acknowledge that fact, and that is why I am on Berk. I can't let my personal feelings cloud my judgment."

Kata bit her lip as she broke off, and Trick nuzzled the side of her neck in a comforting gesture. She reached up and ran her fingers along his spine, taking a breath to calm herself.

"A compromise is an agreement neither side is happy with," Kata quoted, "and that is how I feel. I have to compromise with my feelings so I don't end up hurting my home. All of the Berserkers are relying on my judgement, and I will be the one to either make or break them. Dagur was the one that was supposed to be chief, and I never thought I would take his place."

Stoick smiled behind his beard, understanding the situation a little better now. Unlike Hiccup, who had time to grow into the role of a leader, Kata had suddenly been placed in it. Her victory against the pirates meant everyone had high expectations of her, both inside and outside of her tribe. She wasn't sure how to act or what to do, but she knew that if she followed her heart and alienated the superpower to the north, Berk, that her people would pay. Instinct dictated the treaty should be renewed.

He had known that Kata would hate him, and she had just confirmed that she did. She was fighting herself as much as Berk, and Stoick felt guiltily relieved that she was in conflict. Now he knew that she had conflicts about this, and that lessened the chances that she had an ulterior motive. It didn't appear that she had an agenda of her own other than the one she had voiced.

"I am sorry," Stoick apologized, and he saw Kata stiffen out of the corner of his eye. "It seems that I didn't know much about your situation with Oswald, and I didn't know Dagur as well as you did. For you to be so loyal to him there had to be a bond that went beyond the simple fact you were siblings."

"Dagur is a hero back home," Kata admitted softly, "or he was before the war. He's fought off pirates, led a raiding party against the Outcasts that were supplying the pirates with ships and weapons in exchange for a cut of gold, dealt with wild dragons, and he did it all without Oswald's approval."

She didn't appear to notice Stoick tense when she mentioned the role Alvin and his Outcasts had played with the pirates.

"There is a time to be agreeable and a time to be strong," Kata smiled distantly as she repeated her brother's words. "Oswald didn't know when it was time to stop being agreeable, but Dagur did. Oswald brought peace, but Dagur brought security and a strong standing among the southern islands. He might be deranged, but it's a good deranged. I know that probably doesn't make any sense to you, but it makes sense to me."

"It does make sense," Stoick assured her, "at least I think it does."

Kata smiled briefly without looking away from the waves.

"Now," Stoick said in an official sounding voice. "I suppose we should get to signing the treaty, if you're still up to it."

Stoick added the last part of the sentence when Kata glanced at him in surprise. She hesitated, and then nodded agreement to his proposition. This wasn't exactly the idea Stoick had in mind to ease the bad relations with the Berserkers, but it would do. Kata wasn't afraid to admit her disdain for him, and Stoick didn't doubt she would be an interesting ally, but it would do. Saying that he trusted Dagur's younger sister would be a stretch, but he thought he understood her a little better. That would make all the difference in this coming treaty.

Kata turned away from the sea with a small smile, amazed at how much of an impact her rehearsed words had had. Now she knew where Hiccup had gotten his naïve streak.

* * *

Kata sat in the Great Hall on Berk half an hour later. There was a pint by her elbow, water since she had never developed a taste for alcohol, and the old treaty between their tribes was sitting in front of her. It was still unsigned. A few members of her Berserkers and the Hairy Hooligan tribe of Berk were sitting around the table with her. Their conversation was somewhat muted, and the loudest sound was the occasional snap from the lit fireplace. Trick was under her chair eating a cod.

Stoick sat beside Kata, allowing her to read the treaty uninterrupted. She had never actually read it before, and was curious to see what it entailed. It was only naturally that she know what she was getting her tribe into by entering this binding agreement.

Kata hummed as she finished reading it and sat back in her seat. "I think I understand the basics. To put it simply, we make no aggressive move towards you and you make no move towards us. We stay out of each other's waters unless invited or under strange circumstances like an emergency council summons, or needing to take shelter in her harbor from a storm or for repairs of other sorts."

"That about sums it up," Stoick nodded.

"What about air space?" Kata asked, leaning forward on her elbows to look up at Stoick.

"Air space?" Stoick repeated, and then understood. "You mean the dragons."

Kata tilted her head down for a second that he was correct. "We don't have trained dragons to speak of, and that gives you Berkians something of an unfair advantage."

Stoick knew that Kata had a point, so he wasn't surprised by her concern. "I suppose it is outdated."

"Perhaps a slight rewrite," Kata offered in a neutral tone.

This current agreement neither favored nor hampered either tribe, and Kata might try to make a new one in her favor. Stoick had learned from her conversation with her on the cliff that she would be a challenging ally and she was living up to expectations. He made a mental note not to try to take undue advantage of Kata's inexperience in tipping the treaty into Berk's favor as that would only raise mistrust again.

"On that note, I agree," Stoick told her. "That does mean you'll have to stay for a few days longer then you planned."

"Berserk is secure," Kata promised with a satisfied hum, a sound that reminded Stoick of her blood-drenched victory over her attackers.

"Very well," Stoick said after a moment's hesitation. "I will send for some paper and ink, but how about we wait until tomorrow? The sun is about to set."

Kata looked a little surprised by Stoick's statement and glanced through the open doors of the Great Hall. Sure enough, traces of red and orange were starting to paint the scattered clouds in the sky as the sunset. The young chief gave a quiet _hmph_ in surprise.

"So it is," Kata sat straight on her bench. "The sun sets earlier here. I suppose it's because we're further north."

"Why would that matter?" Gobber asked in confusion.

"I'm sure it's because the planet is round, and different islands get different light at different times," Kata shrugged as if it were obvious, "time zones of sorts."

The Berkians gave her bizarre looks, and Kata looked around them, surprised by their surprise.

"Where did you hear that?" Gobber finally asked, breaking the surprised silence. "I've never heard of anything like that. Everyone knows the world is flat."

Kata couldn't exactly tell them that Freyr, a Vanir god who lived on Asgard, had mentioned it to Leif when he had come to see why Loki was so interested in Berserk. There were actually quite a few cases of gods mentioning strange things backhandedly, but Kata was sure the immortals knew what they were talking about.

"A passing traveler," Kata said, an honest enough reply. "He mentioned it when he visited. We get a surprising amount of… visitors on Berserk."

Her vague answer satisfied them, and Stoick took the old treaty from her and rolled it up. Orders were given for food and drink to be brought out for the Berserkers, and Kata made sure to mention the crew of _Wolfwind_ that had remained at the dock. Stoick was impressed that she thought of her people and assured her that food would be brought to them.

Then they settled down to eat because tomorrow would be a long day full of negotiation.

* * *

 **Strangely enough, the Berserkers know more then the other tribes because of all these "tidbits" the gods are dropping. Hm, i don't actually have a lot to say about this chapter. Please leave reviews with your opinion and/or any questions you might have. Again, a good website to learn about Norse mythology (if you're curious about it) is: _Norse Mythology for Smart People_.**


	23. Back on Berserk

Ingrid was sitting in front of the cell door, eating half a loaf of bread she had been given. The bread wasn't stale, a nice surprise. She finished and reached over for the mug of water. Another surprise was that the water, both fresh and clear. After a few sips from the mug, she set it back down.

Although she wasn't starved, she wasn't exactly being pampered either. The salt from the ocean water had hardened on her skin, creating a grimy coating on her skin. Not just that, but the green paint she'd used had half-washed off and half-smeared, making her look like a piebald. Her weapons were gone, including the throwing knives she had hidden in her vambraces and knee-high boots.

Her head also hurt a bit from where some half-pint had whacked her in the face with her shield. She had been both small and young for a chief, and hadn't looked like much. Yet she managed to drop me, Ingrid thought to herself. That was mildly impressive.

At least she hadn't been killed. Of course, that didn't matter much since she would be dead no matter what happened. If the Berserkers didn't kill her for being an enemy, the pirate queen would for the failed attack. Perhaps it would have been better if the Berserker chief, Kata she thought her name was, had killed her in battle. Warriors who fell in battle were supposed to gain entry into Valhalla after all. Ones who were executed did not.

Ingrid lowered her head so her chin rested against her chest, her long, matted, salt-stained hair falling in front of her face. Her father hadn't been able to grasp why a woman would ever want to fight. Most pirate children didn't even know their father as it could have been any number of men, but Ingrid's father Fargrim had been high-enough ranked to have his own personal concubine.

The pirate queen had been amused when she had seen Ingrid kill a pirate trying to rape her. She had even allowed Ingrid to claim the Right of Kill, taking anything she wanted from the man she had killed. It had been her kill, so his belongings had been her trophies to do as she pleased. Ingrid had gotten one of her first and favorite daggers from that kill. Using his cloak, sword, and coins she had taken she had been able to trade for her shortswords.

When Ingrid had reached the queen's attention a second time, it was because she had been sparring with the men – and beating all of them. The queen had been bemused by Ingrid's fire, but also impressed by her skill. She had given her the right to join a raiding party. Many had complained about a woman being treated as an equal and wondered what the queen had been thinking, but they had never said so to the queen's face. No one who did that lived more than a few minutes.

If it wasn't for the queen, Ingrid would never have gotten her freedom. No one would challenge the queen's decision, so Ingrid would be judged by her own actions. Her being a female was not held against her, giving her a fair chance. The queen did not accept her thanks in words, asking her to repay her with actions. Ingrid had vowed not to fail the queen, to repay her for the chance she had been given. Going against the queen was as dangerous as failing her, and would end in the person getting killed. Depending on the queen's mood, that could take awhile.

One of the queen's favorite quotes was one she would say with a gentle coo, a certain amusement lightening her eyes. "If you fail, I'll kill you, and I'll get someone else to _try, try again_."

Someone opened the door to the cellblock and Ingrid quickly and silently stood, shaking her head to move the hair from her eyes. By the time the door opened, Ingrid was the image of an unbreakable pirate murderer. Heavy bootsteps thudded on the stone floor as someone approached and stopped in front of Ingrid's cell.

It was a Berserker warrior. Ingrid casually walked forward, throat dry as sand, hoping that the observer couldn't tell. She rested her hands on the crisscrossed iron bars that made up the door, tilting her head as she gauged her visitor. As she had guessed, the Berserkers had finally sent someone to get information about the pirates from her.

"So you're the one that girl has sent to torture me for intel, hmm?" Ingrid asked him.

"It's not too often we get a pirate alive," the Berserker pointed out.

Ingrid hummed agreement. Most pirates were so terrified of incurring the queen's wrath by betraying her that they committed suicide rather than be taken prisoner. Their fear outweighed their sense of self-preservation, which, considering they were _pirates_ , was saying a lot.

"Lucky me," Ingrid chuckled and straightened, lowering her hands from the bars.

"Tell me everything you know about the pirates – especially this so-called Pirate Queen," the Berserker ordered. "You can tell me now, or later."

Later, after he had inflicted some pain. Ingrid shook her head, amused more than anything. Compared to the pirate queen, these Berserkers weren't the least bit scary.

"You have no idea what our queen is," Ingrid promised him. "You do not betray her."

Her wording chilled the Berserker and he narrowed his eyes, not sure he had understood.

" _What_ your queen is?" He repeated. "Don't you mean who?"

"No," Ingrid disagreed strongly with a disturbed undercurrent as she remembered the queen. "I mean _what_ she is."

The Berserker seemed unable to look away. Ingrid was serious about what she said, and that seemed to trouble him. After a few seconds, the pirate shrugged.

"If I tell you what you want to know, will you kill me quickly?" Ingrid asked.

She could tell her question had thrown him off. He was obviously used to prisoners begging for their life.

"You want to die?" He asked.

"I'll die no matter what happens," Ingrid promised. "Our attack failed. The pirate queen would punish someone, and if I'm the only survivor, then she would punish me. She wouldn't do it quickly either. Killing me quickly wouldn't be a good example, and there would be no sport in that."

"That sounds like quite a queen," the Berserker said dryly.

"Oh, she is," Ingrid agreed. "She'll kill me even slower for revealing information about her, which is why I'm asking if you'll kill me quickly."

"How can she possibly know if you've betrayed her?" The Berserker demanded. "You're on a different island then her."

"No one knows how," Ingrid shrugged, "but she does. When she finds out she sends her shadows, and then you die."

"Shadows," the Berserker repeated.

"They're brothers," Ingrid explained. "I've seen them. They're dragons with scales as black as the night they thrive in – terrifying to behold and impossible to detect."

Her description must have sounded familiar to the Berserker because he whispered softly, "Nightfuries?"

Ingrid shrugged, leaning forward towards him. "That word means nothing to me. I've never heard it before."

"A Nightfury is a type of dragon, and one of the most intelligent and dangerous ones," the Berserker explained. "You're saying the pirate queen has two of them? For a species that is supposed to be extinct there are an awful lot of them showing up."

It seemed that her news had peaked the Berserkers interest. Ingrid wondered how he would react when she told him the interesting rumors about the pirate queen.

"Before I continue," Ingrid interrupted. "Will you give me a quick death?"

The Berserker paused before responding. "I don't have that sort of authority. Only the chief does and as you know she's not here. If what you tell us is worth it, I'm certain Kata will oblige you."

"Fine," Ingrid sighed. "I'll tell you what I know although you might regret making me."

"Why would I regret that?" The Berserker asked. "Information is information, and it is a good thing."

"Says you," Ingrid rolled her eyes, "but a deal is a deal. There use to be only one... Nightfury on our island. I remember seeing her once as she flew through the night sky. She was large and intelligent with piercing gold eyes. During the winter, she would often fly to the islands north to hunt so she didn't wipe out the prey here. There weren't many other dragons on our island; she chased them off. Even to this day, there aren't many. The brothers that obey the pirate queen are from two of her three eggs."

"What happened to her third egg?" He asked her.

"That would be the brothers' little sister," Ingrid concurred. "Do you think you know dragons? You don't, at least not the brothers. They'll eat fish if there's no other choice, but they prefer _flesh_."

Her accent when she said the word "flesh" had the intended effect on the Berserker.

"What kind of flesh?" He asked cautiously.

"Human," Ingrid said, startling the Berserker, and then added haphazardly, "or dragon."

"Like their sister," the Berserker said, understanding darkening his eyes.

"That was when they first developed a taste for dragon," Ingrid agreed. "Most of the dragons fled Pirate's Haven when their mother was around. Some came back after she vanished one night, but there aren't man left now. Those that haven't fled from the brothers have been their prey. The queen actually encourages "her boys." Hunting fellow dragons isn't easy, and it keeps their skills sharp."

She was starting to freak him out and that was good. Too much fear turned you into a coward, but a little bit of fear helped keep you alive. It heightened your senses, made your brain work faster, and prevented you from doing something suicidally brave. These Berserkers needed a little fear.

"You don't know these dragons," Ingrid repeated. "And you don't know humans, not like my queen. I applaud you for stopping her attack, but it will only be a matter of time until she sends the brothers here in recompense for that defeat."

"We can handle a few dragons," the Berserker snorted.

"I've already said they're not like normal dragons," Ingrid repeated, getting a little annoyed with the Berserker's arrogance. "They've been with the queen too long, feeding off her power."

"What power?" He asked, "she's human."

That made Ingrid laugh, and he lapsed into silence. She looked at the Berserker as if he was an interesting bug she had caught that hadn't yet realized it was trapped.

"There are many rumors about the backstory of our self-appointed queen," Ingrid explained. "The most common is that she died."

She paused for a moment to let that sink in and then continued.

"No one knows her name or where she came from," Ingrid stood straight, lowering her hands from the bars. "A few years ago she just showed up on the island with the dragon brothers walking on either side of her. The story goes that before she raised them after her death and resurrection."

"What could resurrect a human?" The Berserker demanded, completely enthralled.

"What do you think?" Ingrid retorted and shook her head. "One of the gods of course. No one knows whether it was a giant, Æsir, or Vanir. Here's something you might find interesting. It was not the dragon brothers that killed the leaders of the different pirate factions. No, that honor went to the queen. After she killed all the leaders and their men that were too loyal, she consolidated the rest of the pirates under her rule. Originally, the brothers merely _looked_ dangerous and it was the queen who killed. They take a more active role now, ensuring the queen's rule is not interrupted."

The Berserker was staring at her and Ingrid smiled.

"One of the immortals is helping the queen," Ingrid finally explained, "so unless you've got a god on your side, there's no way to stop her. Things are heating up on Asgard. The different factions among the immortals are starting to clash, or at least that's what the queen has told us. Whether she's delusional or gifted no one knows, but they do agree that she's not human anymore. I wonder if she ever was."

Her remark had the necessary effect on the Berserker. He took a step back as Ingrid smiled, and then another. Then he turned on his heel and left, Ingrid chuckling behind him. It was almost laughable how easy it was to unnerve the Berserkers were. She just wished she had been lying.

* * *

Dace sat inside his forge, taking a break from working on the new swords that were being made to replace the ones lost during the pirate's attack. He was certain there were several dozen new swords at the bottom of the harbor. He leaned out through the open window of his forge idly, looking at the village.

Things had been unusually quiet ever since Kata had left with her fleet. He suspected that part of it was because Tobin, a warrior Dagur's age that was something of a troublemaker, had left with Kata. Not only had Tobin left, but the entire crew of his ship, _Falcon_ , had gone as well, which was good since the crew was as bad as their captain. Without them, the village was much quieter.

A part of Dace wished he could have gone with the other warriors. The battle against Berk would be an epic one, and it would allow the Berserkers to get their revenge for their humiliating defeat. Kata would also free her brother and being him back home. That would improve her mood immensely, and it might help stabilize her.

He hoped this coming battle would go right for so many reasons, not in the least being that all three of his sons had gone on the campaign. They were all he had left of his now deceased wife Siv, and the only family he had. If he went with them then maybe he could help protect them. What would he do if all three died? It was improbable, but possible.

Dace's heart might not accept the decision lightly, but his head knew it was for the best that he had stayed behind. Oswald had turned over leadership of the village to Dace during his yearly trips to Berk to renew the peace treaty – back when there had been a treaty – so it was only logical Kata also trust him. Besides, the sight in Dace's left eye had been damaged when Siv had been killed, so he wasn't as competent a warrior as he had once been. He turned to focus back on restocking the depleted weapons, the village being as quiet as it was and Svengal "speaking" to the pirate shield-maiden about what she knew.

Dace stopped before resuming work and turned back around. It was just as he thought, the interrogator was approaching. There was no blood on his clothes, so that meant if he had gotten information from the pirate she had told him willingly. He remembered seeing the pirate, whatever her name was, tearing through the Berserker troops shortly before Kata had left. She hadn't struck him as one that would be cowed by threats.

"Svengal," Dace greeted the Berserker. "How goes your work?"

"Finished," Svengal grunted as he stopped in front of the forge.

"You're kidding," Dace said in stunned surprise. "You threatened her and she just gave in?"

"I didn't threaten her," Svengal corrected.

Dace gave him a blank look as Svengal sat on a bench in front of the forge.

"I asked her what she could tell us about the pirates," Svengal said slowly, obviously surprised himself, "and she told me."

There was silence for a moment as that sunk in and then Dace shook his head. "She's a defector?"

"Assuming what she told me is true then yes," Svengal nodded. "She's not trying to defect though. All she asked in return for the information was that we kill her quickly instead of slowly as the pirate's queen will do."

He seemed to be in a daze, still trying to wrap his head around something. Had it been the prisoner's information that he was having such digesting? Dace was surprised by her request, but more worried about what the pirate had said to stun him so badly.

"What is it?" Dace asked. "What did the prisoner tell you?"

"Quite a bit," Svengal replied tightly. "You remember how Dagur was attacked by a dragon about four years ago and he claimed it was a Nightfury?"

"Yeah," Dace said and sighed.

Dagur had really exaggerated the attack that night. There was no doubt it was a dragon that had scarred him, but he had always claimed it was a Nightfury. The arrival of Vorg and some of his crew had chased away the dragon before they had arrived, leaving Dagur as the only one who had seen it. He had kept telling the same lie over and over again, even to this day.

There was no way it had been a Nightfury. They didn't exist. But they did exist, Dace corrected himself with a sudden jolt. Hiccup's dragon had been a Nightfury, which meant it was possible Dagur hadn't been lying all these years. No wonder Dagur had been so obsessed with Toothless. He fixed Svengal with a hard look, and his friend nodded, guessing what he was thinking.

"A gold-eyed Nightfury used to live on Pirate's Haven," Svengal agreed. "It would go north to hunt during the winter."

"And Berserk is north of the pirate's island," Dace sighed, "and Dagur was attacked shortly after the new year."

Oh my, he owed Dagur an apology. Everyone on Berserk did.v Dagur was a lot of things, but he was no liar.

"And that's not the half of it," Svengal gave a harsh laugh. "You wouldn't believe anything else she said... And yet, it's just impossible enough to be true."

"What are you talking about?" Dace asked, unease rising. "Do you think she was lying? We need valid information to give Kata a reliable report when she returns with Dagur."

"I don't know if she was lying," Svengal repeated. He raised his eyes to Dace, the distress in them clear. "But I hope she was, or else we are in a lot more trouble then we thought we were."

Dace was confused, but Svengal dropped his eyes to the ground instead of responding. After gathering a breath, he repeated Ingrid's disturbing tale about the pirate queen and the dragon brothers. Lief, a boy who had been resurrected by a god and given new power was not present, nor was anyone who knew about him. If someone had been, they would have seen the similarity between Lief's history and Ingrid's story and realized that she was probably telling the truth about the Pirate Queen – and Asgard.

* * *

 **Just so you know, Ingrid _is_ telling the truth. You saw a taste of the friction on Asgard in chapters 15 and 19, and it won't get better. As they argue, the mortals get dragged into the gods' affairs, but the plot also centers around the frictin between the Berk and Berserk tribes. I thought it might be repetitive if the "Big Bad" was another human like Alvin or Drago, so I upped the ante and decided to change it up. I know it might sound strange, but please give it a chance. **


	24. Asgard's Flaws

Váli and Nari Lokison walked along one of the streets on Asgard. The golden hall of Gladsheimr, Odin's hall, was behind them. Asgard's harbor was to their right, and they walked on a Cliffside above it. Nari would often sit in this area and look out over the clear blue harbor full of ships coming and going with catches of fish or crab.

Today, they were walking to Niflheim. Odin had agreed to release their father if they got the name of the Valkyrie that had told Lief Dagur was still alive. To do that, they needed to get to Niflheim and speak to their half-sister Hela. Actually walking to the land of the dead would take too long, but they planned to have Hela bring them to her hall.

"Do you really think Hela will see us?" Nari asked Váli softly.

Váli smiled at his brother. "Hela likes us fine."

"Hela doesn't like father though," Nari pointed out. "She won't turn in one of her Valkyries to help him."

Váli shrugged, knowing that already. "So we just don't tell her we're doing it for Loki. We'll say that we need the Valkyrie's name because Odin ordered us and we'll get in trouble otherwise."

"You're going to _lie_ to Hela?" Nari asked, stopping walking.

Váli stopped to and glanced back at his brother. "Yes."

"That's stupid."

Váli frowned, "is not."

"Is to," Nari countered. "Hela's as clever as father. She'll see through you and then _you'll_ be in trouble."

Váli rolled his eyes. "I might not be as much a silvertongue as you or father, but I can still spin a tale."

"Hela's a better liar then you," Nair warned. "If you're going to lie to our sister then you're on your own. Don't expect me to bail you out when she catches you."

Váli was suddenly frustrated when Nari crossed his arms over his chest and stuck his nose in the air in a snooty manner as if he just knew Váli wasn't a good enough liar to fool Hela.

"Fine," Váli retorted, a growl edging into his voice. "I'l talk to her on my own. You just stand there and watch."

"Deal," Nari said strongly.

He and Váli raised their arms and crossed their wrists against each other in the Jötunn fashion instead of clasping hands as Æsir would do. Nari had a triumphant look as they lowered their arms, leaving Váli to feel a little queasy. Making a deal with his father was one of the most dangerous things to do, and he had a feeling that warning was extended to include Nari.

"I won't get in trouble," Váli promised him. "I won't give Odin the excuse he wants to separate us."

Nari smiled at Váli's fire. Something moved in the corner of his vision, and Nari glanced over. He audibly groaned, and Váli gave him a strange look until he followed his brother's vision. Then he groaned. Váli took a step closer to Nari and set a hand on his brother's shoulder. His sibling's lips moved, and the air distorted around them as an invisibility veil was raised.

They stopped moving as a party of three loudly walked down a path towards the brothers. All three had the same flame-orange hair. One was an adult man with a thick beard, gloves, and a shortened warhammer. The two with him had the same hair that he did, although were quite younger. It was Thor with Magni and Modi, his favored sons.

Loki's sons held their breath as they walked down the path towards them. Thor was laughing loudly at something one of his sons had said. From the way Magni was grinning, it had probably been him. Magni and Modi were something of archenemies to Váli and Nari, and they hated each other worse than their fathers' did. There had been times where Thor and Loki had worked together at least, making a legendary team. Their sons couldn't get close to each other without fists, fur, and spells flying.

Magni swung a sword through the air with a grin, making Modi laugh and Thor grin. He ruffled Magni's hair with rough affection. Everything Thor did he did with a rough edge, lacking the grace Loki was famous for.

Váli growled softly in the back of his throat, a wolf's growl, his canines sharpening into fangs. Nari elbowed him, reminding him not to get into a fight with Magni while Thor was present. The last time that had happened was the first time Váli had been able to fully shapeshift into a wolf. Magni had been taunting him about how his siblings weren't even humanoid, just a bunch of freaks, and Váli had turned into a wolf and chased him around the harbor.

Thor had been nearby and had come to his son's rescue. Váli had gotten his jaws around the scruff of Magni's shirt and was shaking him like a ragdoll by then. Mistakenly, Thor thought that Váli was a real wolf instead of Loki's son and attacked him. Nari had jumped in front of Váli when Thor had swung with Mjölnir, raising a defensive ward. Nari still remembered the shock that had gone up his arms when Mjölnir had hit – and broken – the ward. The shock had shattered the bones in his hands and forearms, but he had saved Váli from being hurt.

Loki had stopped things from escalating further. He had been so infuriated by Thor's attack on his son. Thor had assured him it was an accident and that he hadn't known Váli could shapeshift yet, adding though that Váli _had_ launched an unwarranted attack on his son. In recompense, Loki had slashed Thor's throat. The bleeding had stopped before it had killed Thor, and tensions had continued to build. They had culminated when Loki had taken his revenge out on Thor's wife Sif and cut off her golden hair.

Váli's blood has also boiled when he had seen just how badly Nari had been hurt by Mjölnir's swing. He hadn't been intending to hurt Magni, only scare him into shutting up. Nari had been seriously injured though, and it had taken him weeks to heal from Mjölnir, and Thor had never apologized. He was a mighty Asgardian of war and death though and Nari a mere half-Jötunn, so why should he? So far, Váli had never gotten to pay Thor back.

Nari purred softly, reminding Váli that he was still too young and inexperienced to fight Thor and stand a chance. Maybe later he could do to Thor what Thor had done to Nari, but not yet. Magni and Modi were also present to help defend their father, and Nari would jump into the battle to help Váli. He might get hurt again. Frustrated, he let Thor and his sons pass them.

"Come on," Nari told his brother as the three walked away. "We still have to get to Éljúdnir and speak to Hela."

Nari dropped the invisibility weave and the brothers kept walking. When Hela was ready to see them, she would bring them to Niflheim. They saw Freyja getting scolded by Freyr, Freyja having slept with several dwarves so they would make a pair of earrings to go with her necklace Brísingamen. Eir was speaking with Saga, a female Skald that knew many tales, about some subject. Bragi, son of Kvsaid, was walking side by side with Iðunn, the newly rescued keeper of the golden apples. In the distance, they could hear Tyr barking orders to some of the younger Asgardian warriors as they trained to fight.

It looked so natural, so normal, but the sons of Loki could see what no one else could. There were new tensions, rifts. Tyr's training with Asgardians had increased exponentially over the past few months despite Asgard supposedly being in a time of peace. Bragi, who was supposedly welcome in the courts of all realms, had left Asgard less and less. Eir and Saga had been working together to do more research on history and plagues more than before, as if preparing for a natural disaster that supposedly wasn't coming. The sounds of people in the city were muted, although everyone still smiled and said that nothing was wrong.

They believed those claims with all their heart, but Váli and Nari knew better. Like Loki, they had Jötunn blood and weren't completely welcome on Asgard. This prevented them from being totally integrated with Asgard's population, and left them always a step away from everyone. They were able to observe events from a distance without being too involved in the cycle of things, letting them see things others were used to seeing and missed.

Something was wrong on Asgard. The crime rate had increased only a few percent's, nothing too noticeable. The signs were not physical and they were not obvious, but they were there. Maybe it was because some people thought Loki was less of a menace then others and thought Odin was too hard on him. Maybe some Æsir believed that instead of coexisting with the other species like the Jötnar and Fire Demons that they should just wipe them out.

Loki knew there was trouble. That was why he had reached out to the human world and resurrected the Berserker boy. The human's worship of the Asgardians strengthened the Æsir. No one could deny the connection between the two realms. He thought that if he could stabilize things on Midgard, it might help stabilize Asgard. If it didn't, then it would provide him allies on Midgard and a safe base of operations if things went downhill.

Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst. That was one of their father's sayings. Right now, the best would be to get the Valkyrie's name from Hela and free their father by the end of the day.

"We're still on Asgard," Nari pointed out.

"I thought you said you contacted Hela and said we wanted to talk to her," Váli grumbled under his breath.

"I _did_ ," Nari said pointedly. "Maybe this is her way of saying she doesn't want to see us."

They were looking at each other as they spoke and walked, and they were bother surprised when a woman's voice called out to them.

"Maybe I am interested in hearing what Odin has to say," the voice said softly.

The brothers jumped, both of them suddenly realizing they weren't on Asgard any longer. Now they were in the entrance of a beautiful hall with stained glass windows, vaulted ceilings, fluted columns, sharply pointed spires, intricate sculptures, and flying buttresses. Damp sleet clung to every surface.

They looked at each other with a smile, suddenly realizing they were in Éljúdnir, Hel's hall on Niflheim. The brothers turned towards a throne made of bones and saw a woman in her late-teens standing in front of it. The right side of her body was heart-achingly beautiful with full lips, straight milky white teeth with elongated canines, a peach-and cream complexion that highlighted her athletic build, long and silky black hair that looked like ink and an eye with an iris colored the dull brown of dried blood. Her left side was more terrifying with withered skin as white and soft as maggot flesh that was covered in patches of frostbitten blue and black. That side had an emaciated, almost skeletal hand and leg, membrane-thin lips over rotten and jagged teeth, a milky-white eye, and tufts of desiccated hair like black spiderwebs.

Her ermine cloak shimmered like a snowdrift rippling in the wind but the rest of her clothing was plain and functional: a sleeveless shirt, Capri's, and military boots all colored black with silver highlights. In her right earlobe was an earring made from garnet shaped like a blooming rose. Around her bicep and forearm on the right side was an arm ring and vambrace, matching in design. They were both made of black metal that was highlighted silver in the design of thorn briars and inlaid with additional garnet roses. No jewelry adorned the right side of her body.

She stood with her hands on her hips and her shoulders thrown back, head held high. Her confidence was of stark contrast to how she had acted when she was younger, her head downcast and a gloomy air of misery about her. Váli and Nari did not flinch back from the half-dead woman, and instead greeted the ruler of the afterlife with a happy cry.

"Hela!"

* * *

 **Like I said, I didn't want them the plot to be about another dragon hunter. There are enough already: Dagur, Alvin, Viggo, Ryker, and Drago Bludvist. I didn't want to repeat what was already there and I know a lot about Norse mythology already so I thought I might as well put the knowledge to use.**

 **... I'm getting zero feedback on it though. Readers, please leave reviews on what you like/hate about my story. Please. I _like_ reviews and feedback.**


	25. Rescue

Merrik climbed up into Skye's saddle as the black spur of rock that was Outcast Island came into view. Jodi stood on the deck nervously, wishing she could go with Merrik to stabilize Dagur _before_ he was moved. Skye couldn't carry three though, so Jodi would be forced to remain on the flagship away from the island.

Night had fallen and the new moon was hidden by the low clouds that covered much of the sky, perfect conditions for a stealth mission. The feathers that covered Skye's body were similar to an owl's in their stealth capability, so sneaking onto the island shouldn't be a problem. Merrik had rationed out from the places on Outcast Island and the odd wounds Savage had suffered in what should be an empty cellblock that Dagur was likely being held in the northern pens.

"Good luck," Jodi told him softly instead.

Merrik nodded, holding his bow in one hand comfortably as Skye spread her wings. "We'll be back with Dagur before you know it. More likely than not the Outcasts are going to be following us."

"This ship has amazing weapons," the Berserker serving as its Captain assured Merrik. "Unless the Outcasts have dragons now there shouldn't be any trouble. By the way, how did you know that Dagur was still alive? You guys seem to know a lot you shouldn't."

Merrik couldn't exactly explain Leif's visions or the boy's conversation with the Valkyrie without explaining Loki, so he smiled instead. "It's a little hard to explain, and I don't have the time to try to do so."

The Berserker reluctantly accepted the explanation and stood back so Skye could take off. Her first few wingbeats as she gained altitude and stabilized were noisy, but once she had the necessary airspeed her flight became silent. Merrik loved the advantage Skye's feathers gave her, and he leaned low to her back as she glided silently towards Outcast Island.

Dodging the sentries was easy and Merrik made it inside the perimeter of the island without much trouble. He did one quick circle, but it seemed to be just another night on Outcast Island. Then he got to the harbor and saw the ships. Skye flew a little lower when he nudged her and his breath caught when he saw how many red-striped ships were gathered. Torches and lanterns aboard ships and bonfires around the harbor did a fine job of illuminating the armada.

His first guess was that Alvin the Treacherous was preparing for an attack on Berk but he rethought his opinion when he saw that not all the ships were painted red. Some were green – pirate green. It seemed Alvin was supplying the pirates again, which meant that Berserk would have to bash the bloodlust out of them again. This was valuable tactical information, but he couldn't fly lower without running the risk of being spotted, so he turned away to rescue Dagur. Maybe after Dagur was on the flagship he could return and take another look.

Merrik called Skye off and she flew inland towards the northern cells. He kept his eyes on the ground since that was where the Outcast troops were, but occasionally glanced around at the clouds. It would be his luck that a wild dragon would pick _now_ to attack him and Skye. Despite not seeing anything, his skin started to crawl. Something was wrong, and he didn't just mean the joint fleet in the harbor. Throat dry, he swallowed and tightened his grip on the longbow and the arrow he kept nocked on it. There was no alarm being raised, but he was certain someone was watching him.

His senses told him nothing was wrong, but that only made the feeling in his stomach knot even tighter. Over the years, Merrik had learned to trust his instincts and right now every instinct was screaming there was trouble. If Dagur wasn't so close to dying, he would have called off the rescue and come back another night. He didn't have that luxury though.

Senses tuned from wariness, he kept watch as Skye glided down and landed in front of the door to the northern pens. He dismounted silently, fingers on the bowstring, ready to shoot in a second if something moved. Nothing did, but Merrik did not miss how Skye fluffed her feathers, as ruffled as he was. Maybe he was just making her paranoid.

Alvin had placed two guards in front of the door, but Merrik simply raised his longbow and drew back on the bowstring. Two arrows in as many seconds and the way was clear. He yanked his arrows free from the bodies as he passed them and put one of them in his quiver as he turned to the door, the other arrow going back on his bow.

The door was locked but a quick search of the bodies turned up a key. One of the Outcasts was still alive and starting to moan. Chastising himself for his lax aim, Merrik slit his throat with his dagger so he would stop making noise and then unlocked the door. It's unoiled hinges made the door screech when he opened it.

Merrik cringed, and then suddenly turned, snapping his bow up and drawing the arrow in a smooth move. He could have sworn he heard something. There was nothing but shadows. Hesitantly, Merrik lowered his bow and relaxed the draw.

"Stop being such a coward," he muttered to himself and then went inside the northern pens.

He moved as quickly as he could while still being quiet, aware that there could be more guards inside. There were several torches lit, but no one attempted to stop him as he looked inside each pen. Precious minutes ticked by and Merrik felt a bead of sweat run down the back of his neck. Why was he so jumpy? There was nothing outside but shadows.

Finally, he found the cell Dagur was in.

"Dagur," Merrik hissed, "Dagur!"

Dagur didn't move. He looked unconscious, or worse. Merrik tightened his lips into a hard line and tried the key to the door on his cell. It didn't fit. He looked blankly at the key for a moment and then stuffed it into his pants pocket and knelt in front of the lock. Reluctantly, he set his bow on the ground beside him so he had both hands free to pick the lock. A little over ten seconds later the lock clicked and Merrik was able to pull the door open.

Quickly now, he snatched his bow and ran into the cell, dropping by Dagur's side. He put his fingers to Dagur's throat and exhaled in relief when he found a heartbeat. Dagur was alive, but he didn't think he would be much longer. His skin was feverish and clammy to the touch. The left leg was at a bad angle and he guessed it had been broken – more than once. Merrik could smell the stink of infected blood and his eyes flicked over to a haphazard, now bloodstained, bandage around his arm. Jodi was a great healer. As long as he got to Dagur to her alive he was confident she could save him.

Dagur's eyes fluttered open as Merrik used his lockpicks and began to work on the shackles binding his wrists. Merrik hesitated.

"Dagur?" He asked softly.

Dagur seemed too languid to hear him, and merely stared straight ahead vacantly. Then he closed his eyes again and lapsed back into unconscious. Merrik knew that couldn't be good and hurried to free his chief. He got the first shackle open as quickly as the cell door but his hands were shaking and it took over twice as long to unlock the second restraint.

Merrik caught Dagur when he started to fall to one side, no longer supported by the chains. Here came the next problem. Dagur was a good head taller than he was and despite being malnourished, Merrik quickly found he was still quite heavy. He scolded himself for not thinking this through as he laid Dagur on the floor and walked back to the cell door.

Despite a few misgivings about making so much noise, he decided he needed to speed more than the stealth. Hours of practice with his longbow had strengthened his arms, but it would still take time for him to drag Dagur to Skye and that would tire him. He put two fingers to his lips and gave a loud three-note whistle. The sound echoed in the pens and made him wince.

He started to get the feeling he was being watched again as Skye heard the whistle and came inside the pens to him. The feeling vanished as quickly as it had appeared. She stopped in front of Dagur's cell and laid down. Merrik pet her once briefly and then turned to Dagur.

He grabbed Dagur under the armpits and began dragging him backwards to where Skye was. It did take effort, but he was able to manage it. Boosting Dagur into Skye's saddle was harder, but the dragon helped shift him onto the saddle. Merrik retrieved his bow and climbed into the saddle behind Dagur, trying to set him in the saddle so he wouldn't fall off.

Once, and only once, Merrik had fallen out of Skye's saddle. Not eager to repeat the experience, Merrik had added leather straps on either side of the saddle that worked a bit like stirrups. Instead of putting his feet in it though, he wrapped the straps around his leg to keep from being thrown from the saddle. As being strapped in limited his ability to turn and thus decreased his effectiveness with a bow, Merrik rarely used them. He had adapted to Skye and no longer had a real use to them, but was grateful he had not removed them as he tightened the straps around Dagur's legs.

"Let's go girl," Merrik whispered and pat Skye's side.

The dragon stood and began to walk to the doorway. Dagur didn't fall off, which Merrik supposed was good news, and felt immensely relieved when they made it outside. Skye didn't need to be told to take off and make for the ship, and Merrik kept a hand on Dagur's waist to make sure he didn't fall as Skye's flight leveled out. Blood from his injuries seeped into Merrik's sleeve and onto his hand.

The Valkyrie was right about one thing, Merrik admitted. Dagur was close to dying.

A shadow moved behind Merrik and began to fly through the clouds after him. The shadow split into two and circled around Merrik so they could approach from both sides. They were silent, unnoticed. Merrik was staring straight ahead, having convinced himself the bad feeling was his imagination. He was thus not aware of the attack until it came.

One of the shadows spat a violet orb at them and it exploded just ahead of Skye in a luminous firework of purple and white. Skye shrieked and made herself stop flying, almost bucking Merrik off the saddle. He caught himself, just barely and looked around in jerky movements as the light faded. That had been a plasma blast.

"Toothless?" Merrik asked quizzically, wondering how the Berkian could be here when he was supposed to be on Berk with Kata.

Merrik straightened in the saddle but wasn't able to get off a shot before another plasma blast came from the opposite side and hit Skye full in the chest. The kinetic force threw Skye backwards and sent her into a downward fall. He looked up as his dragon recovered, talons skimming the ocean. There were two shadows moving against the clouds, diving down at them.

He would never understand how, but he saw them with too sharp clarity. Their scales were hidden in the shadows but their eyes glowed in the darkened night. One had dark orange eyes and the other had amber. They bore no saddles and carried no riders.

Merrik raised his bow and shot at the amber eyes, aiming between them. The dragon tucked in its wings a little more and dived, letting the arrow shoot harmlessly by it. He didn't bother drawing a second arrow, knowing he would already miss. It seemed that the Nightfury's reputation was not exaggerated.

"Get to the ship," he hissed at Skye, "now!"

Skye needed no encouragement, but there was no way she could outrun a Nightfury. He heard the whistle as the Nightfuries closed on them and then suddenly he wasn't in the saddle. Pain exploded as talons sank into his upper chest and he was torn backwards. The Nightfury's talons dug into his skin, piercing his chest clean through and sending rivulets of blood falling into the ocean.

Merrik gasped, blood flowing from his lips as the Nightfury that had torn him from his saddle flew off with him. He saw the second Nightfury descend on Skye and drag her and Dagur out of the sky. There was a splash, and Merrik tried to call out. All he managed to do was cough up a glob of blood, eyesight slipping out of focus. The Nightfury tightened its grip, driving the talons deeper into his chest, crushing his bones and lungs.

His hold on reality slipped, and the pain vanished as he lapsed into unconsciousness.

* * *

 **That was good in plan but bad in action. It would have worked if it wasn't for the brothers. There are two types of dragons in fantasy: cuddly dragons like Toothless and Saphira from _Eragon_ , dragons who work with humans, and the not so friendly ones. The brothers are the not so friendly variety. I cannot stress that enough. **


	26. A Better Rescue

The woman that stood over Merrik was a decade too old to be called young, but still a decade away from being called old. She wore a sleeveless shirt, leather vest, and a pair of pants cut off above the knee. Her brown boots thudded softly against the rocky surface of Outcast Island as she approached the Berserker that was bleeding to death. Other than a knife hidden in the vambrace on her left arm, she had no weapons. She didn't need any.

Sitting on their haunches to either side of her were the Nightfury brothers. The amber-eyed brother licked the blood off his talons, content. His sibling looked a little more disquiet, having failed to bring down Merrik's dragon. Arrow fire from the giant ship had driven him back, and he was now gripping the shaft of an arrow embedded in his hide, trying to wiggle the metal arrowhead free of the flesh.

"One out of three isn't my usual success rate," the woman mused, twirling one of her bangs around a finger. "Usually you two don't miss your mark."

The injured orange-eyed brother accidently bit through the haft of the arrow when she said that and he spat out the half in his mouth silently. Dagur may have gotten away, but this archer was going to be dead any second now. Alvin probably still didn't know his prisoner had been sprung. He was a fool, but he commanded a large armada and she needed those ships.

Amber eyes made a cooing sound at her, and she glanced at the successfully Nightfury.

"Yes," she sighed, "you can eat him if your _that_ hungry."

The Nightfury wagged his tail once and with a huff at his less successful brother, approached Merrik. Their master looked up at the cloud cover, thinking about her next move. There was a shriek of surprise from Amber Eyes, and she jerked her head back down to see him hissing and snarling at something behind Merrik. She could see nothing, but that didn't mean there was nothing there.

"Come out," she ordered. "I don't know which of you Asgardians is there, but show yourself."

The air distorted behind Merrik and then suddenly a blur of color appeared. It came into focus, revealing itself to be a girl somewhere between Kata and Dagur's age. She was kneeling in front of Merrik, a hand on his chest. Wisps of dark blue-silver magic fluttered around the hand, and, as the Nightfury's master watched in horror, Merrik's breathing and heartbeat smoothed out and his wounds closed.

"Get away from him!" She ordered the girl. "He's my kill!"

The girl looked up from the Berserker at her, expression curious. Her eyes were the same color as her magic, and her hair looked more grey then blonde from the darkness of night. What little of her clothing that could be seen was her crimson outfit edged with lavender, topped with thin and delicate silver armor.

Having stabilized Merrik, the girl now stood. Her armor was polished to a shine, and the starlight reflected off it, revealing her winged helm. Silently, her white wings unfurled from her back and arched into the air above her head. The feathers of her white wings were long and each feather danced with silver starlight that somehow also reflected blue as if they were inlaid with sapphires.

"A Valkyrie," the woman hissed and took a step back, her Nightfuries circling around to her sides.

"You're not human," the Valkyrie observed, "you're like Lief. Who enhanced you?"

"I am the queen of the pirates," the woman tossed her head into the air. "I share no allegiance to Hel or her Valkyries and thus have no reason to tell you anything."

The Valkyrie's lips spread into a smile. "But you will, mortal. In the end, everyone kneels before Milady Hela – the Goddess of Death. No one escapes her forever. You may be enhanced demigodling, but that will not keep her from her ranks forever."

While the pirate queen growled, the Valkyrie tucked her wings loosely back onto her back and looked down at Merrik. She hummed, thinking about the bets she had made on the current mortal affair with the demigodlings and the Berserker tribe. Technically, she had already made sure that Dagur would make it back to the ship and he and the dragon were probably safe now. Dagur had already been returned safely, so she would win her bets.

Sigrún sighed, thinking that Kata might have trouble without her archer. If Kata lost her only dragon rider then she might lose some circumstances, and Sigrún would lose her bets. In order to make sure Sigrún didn't lose in the future, she needed to return the girl's archer to her alive.

It would take a great deal of magic to manage what she was thinking and pooled her power to her fingers. Although Sigrún didn't have good stamina, she was able to strike fast and hard. Thus, the magic she needed was ready in a matter of seconds and she raised her hands over the being that had been laid out on the black rock.

The queen didn't know what she was doing until Sigrún slammed her hands down on the surface. Blue-silver cracks shot across the surface and coiled around him in a large circle. Then the shape became a defined circle woven with runes of magic.

"No!" The queen shouted as the circle flashed and Merrik vanished.

Although the queen couldn't see it, Merrik had just materialized on the deck of the captured pirate flagship. Jodi was kneeling by Dagur, looking over his wounds and chewing her lip, deeply troubled by the heat on his skin. Using the nets on the ship, the crew was steadily pulling Merrik's dragon out of the water and onto the ship. They finally managed, with one final tug, to get the feather-covered dragon over the edge and onto the deck. The dragon let out a soft screech of pain as her broken wing hit the wood but was glad she was out of the water.

Then a glow on the other side of the deck lit up the area, showering the ship with blue-silver light. Jodi, who was just starting to order the men to move Dagur below deck where her supplies were, let her voice trail off as the glow from Sigrún's magic appeared ad faded away. It was bright, blindingly so. Once the glow vanished, Jodi lowered her arm from her eyes and saw him.

"What?" She whispered.

With a quick glance at Dagur, she left his side and knelt by Merrik. He was badly injured and drenched in blood, his shirt hanging in rags. Despite appearances though, his heartbeat and breathing were stable.

"He's stable," she announced. "Get him below deck with Dagur. I'll look at him after I'm done with Dagur."

When no one approached her, Jodi frowned and raised her head. The men were all standing there, still as statues, gawking. Jodi sighed, guessing that they weren't as use to immortal's as she was.

"I don't know what happened," Jodi told them, "but someone on Asgard evidently likes us enough to help. Now stop staring and make use of this gift."

The men didn't move and Jodi clenched her fingernails to her palm. One of the problems with men was that they were so certain in their own superiority that they couldn't react when something much greater then they interfered. Dagur, from his extensive experience with immortals, wasn't like that. He wouldn't be standing there gawking.

" _Now_!" She shouted with as much strength as she could muster.

The men jumped, flinching. Then they scrambled to do as they were ordered. Two of the men helped both Dagur and Merrik.

"Be careful," Jodi warned them anxiously. "Try not to jostle them too badly."

"Where did he go?" The pirate queen demanded. " _Where_?"

"To his kin," Sigrún answered politely, "and I assure you that your dragons will not be able to catch him or the others."

"I beg to differ," the queen tossed her head, sending her long hair cascading down her back.

The Nightfury brothers took off but Sigrún merely smirked like a human teenager and sliced a hand through the air. A pulse of energy erupted from the tips of her well-manicured fingernails and both brothers fell back to the ground. They managed to snap out their wings and land with some grace.

Sigrún felt her eyesight blur, recognizing she was going to have to lay off her magic. She unclipped her sword hilt from her side and raised her left arm. The elaborate vambrace on her forearm unfolded into a circular shield, and she tightened her grip on the sword hilt. It to, answered her call to arms. Light seemed to gather and condense around the hilt and it formed into a meter long blade that almost looked like it was made from a sheet of blue-tinted diamond illuminated from within. Light trailed form the length of the blade as it moved, Sigrún falling into a combat stance. Her wings half-unfurled.

"Kill her," the queen ordered the Nightfuries.

Sigrún smirked. For a Valkyrie only a month old she sure was getting into some strange circumstances.

Then one of the Nightfuries spat a plasma blast at her. She caught in on her shield and despite making the metal glow and vibrate it did no appreciable harm. The other Nightfury pounced at her, but she hooked her sword under its belly and tossed it over her head.

Sigrún leaned backwards as if at a limbo and another plasma blast went over her head. Then she smiled, put her hands on the ground, and did a back handspring, ending on her feet with her sword up just in time to cut another plasma blast harmlessly in half.

The pirate queen put a hand over her eyes in disappointment. She stepped to one side as a kick from the Valkyrie sent one of the dragon brothers tumbling head over tail backwards, almost hitting her in the process. So, the queen thought as she traced some of the green facepaint on her cheek, this was the power of a Valkyrie. It was impressive, but no more then she expected given that the Valkyries were Odin's.

The amber-eyed Nightfury prowled around her and Sigrún watched him, shield raised and sword in her other hand. She was careful not to turn her back on the queen or the other Nightfury that was shaking itself off. Then her opponent pounced. His claws scratched against her shield and his teeth snapped at her face. She saw him open his jaws for a plasma blast and unfurled her wings.

Blue-silver magic like lapis lazuli stones coated her wings and then was released in a pulse of power that threw her opponent to the ground away from her, stunned. Sigrún looked between the two downed Nightfuries and then raised her head to the pirate queen. She grinned and the queen gave her a flat look.

"You're quite annoying," the queen told her.

"So are you," Sigrún promised. "The difference between us is that you can die, mortal."

Then Sigrún ran at the queen, intent on proving her point. The queen dodged the first blow, but Sigrún was already shifting her grip to deliver a backhanded slash that should have cut the human in half. As such, the Valkyrie was stunned when the human somehow avoided her slash and grabbed her wrist.

"Hey," Sigrún complained as she was dragged forward by the human.

The queen slammed her hand against the Valkyrie's face and then spun and kicked her in the stomach. With an oof, Sigrún stumbled back a few steps and fell to the ground. Her sword landed with a strange ringing clang beside the queen.

"Ow," Sigrún whined and put a hand over her nose, "that hurt. How did a mortal like you make that hurt?"

"You said it yourself already," the queen cooed and knelt by the sword. "I'm not just a mortal. I've been enhanced."

She wrapped her fingers around the hilt of Sigrún's sword and pulled, but was unable to lift the blade from the ground. Either she wasn't strong enough or the sword didn't want her to wield it. Based on what she knew about the Valkyries, she would guess it was the second one. With a quiet, though unsurprised, sigh she straightened and faced Sigrún as the Valkyrie stood. Unlike before, the young immortal looked wary of her. Good. She was learning her place.

Sigrún flicked her hand, seidr trailing from her fingers, but all the queen felt was a soft breeze. The breeze quickened once it hit the open sea though, carrying off with strength. It took a moment for the self-appointed queen to realize the reason behind the Valkyrie's motion, but she hissed once she did and whirled around.

"The ship!" She hissed.

That wind would carry the berserker's ship out of range of the Outcasts. The alarm for an escaped prisoner hadn't even been raised yet. At a signal from her the Nightfuries took off to give pursuit. Sigrún thought that this human didn't learn very quickly and raised a hand to knock the dragons from the sky again. Her sight blurred as she released the charm and nothing happened.

 _Teleportation is a high level spell_ , the older Valkyries had warned her. _It's the easiest way to return to Niflheim from Midgard but it takes a great deal of power. You are still very young so do not use it unless you are returning home, and never try to teleport something without including you in the teleport. Shifting others with your magic is an easy way to burn energy._

Well, Sigrún thought. This was what she got for not listening to her teachers. She beat her wings once and took off into the cloudy sky after the dragons. The queen threw her dagger after the Valkyrie, but it was deflected away from her without injury. It flew back at the queen as if to hit her between the eyes, but she snatched it out of the air by its hilt without batting an eye. She merely tssked, irritated it wouldn't be that easy to bring her down.

Sigrún caught up to the dragons without too much trouble, and sheered right to avoid Amber Eyes's attack. She looped above him upside down, trying to find the other dragon and wishing she'd been able to grab her sword. Then she saw the orange-eyed Nightfury beside her trying for a kill. It was easy to dodge him and his plasma blast, but she grumbled when she saw his plasma blast explode in midair, lighting up the clouds around in beautiful purple. There was no way the Outcasts would miss that.

She swept around in a tight circle. One thing she had noticed about the orange-eyed dragon was that he had an arrow sticking out of his side and that was what she went for as she accelerated for a run. Feet first, she him him and both of her feet landed on the arrow and pushed it into his side. His shriek echoed around the clouds as he fell. Sigrún knew for sure that the Outcasts would be watching now.

She pushed off the falling dragon and dove straight down, feeling the plasma blast almost skim her boots. A Nightfury had only six shots. How many did he have left? It had only shot once so far, conserving its power.

The clouds hid her almost instantly from the remaining Nightfury. He hovered uncertainly and then retracted his teeth to send out search echoes, listening for what they said. Sigrún bent the air around her as she flew to a better attack position, muddling the echo to the point where it was useless. She wouldn't be able to use many more spells, but a lack of seidr was not going to affect her melee skills or her flight.

Once above the Nightfury, she dropped at him, intending to hit the dragon's shoulder and break the wing's joint. Sigrún would never quite figure out how but the Nightfury had known she was there, so as she drew her wings in and dove, the Nightfury flipped over onto his back and spat a shot. Instinct made Sigrún raise her shield to protect her and the shield rang as the shot hit it harmlessly.

Then she was past the Nightfury. Rather than miss her opening she cast a ward and a circle of blueish white light appeared in front of her. It was as solid as a wall, so Sigrún was able to jump off it and redirect herself back at the Nightfury that had _not_ been expecting that. There was a satisfying crack as something in the dragon's shoulder joint snapped. One of his wings buckled accordingly, forcing him to spiral down to try to land. Twice the dragon shot at her, but Sigrún easily dodged both shots.

Ah, how she loved her steel-toed boots. She smiled and then turned to fly back to the pirate queen and her sword. With her dragons gone, Sigrún didn't doubt the queen would have fled, but she could get her sword and return home. Hela was going to be so mad at her for causing such a stir.

Sigrún dipped beneath the cloud layer unexpectedly, suddenly able to see the island. As she suspected, Outcasts had gathered and were looking up. Scattered among them were green-painted pirates. A startled, almost strangled cry went up as the men saw her – a winged woman in armor – flying overhead. Quickly, she rose back into the clouds. Oh great, the mortals had seen her. Now Hela was really going to kill her.

Once she felt she was back at the place she dipped beneath the clouds and landed delicately next to her discarded sword. As she had thought, the human had fled in the interim. Shaking her head, she knelt and picked up her sword. It felt as light as air in her hand.

"I knew you'd come back for that," someone called out behind her.

No way, Sigrún thought as she turned to face the speaker. It was the pirate queen. She hadn't left.

"Boy," Sigrún murmured, "you're really stupid for a human. Now I can kill you."

"You said it yourself," the queen smiled. "I'm enhanced, like Lief. There is something different between him and me though. He's more like support and an early warning system. I am enhanced to kill."

Sigrún's eyes got big as the queen went into a fighting stance, wondering how big of a moron she was. Then the air distorted around her and Sigrún raised her shield, crouching down slightly. She was sensing magic. There was no way to describe it other than to say the air around the pirate queen's raised fists ignited, turning her fists into balls of lightning.

"What?" Sigrún whispered in confusion.

Her feet moved as she shifted positions, creating lightning there to. The Valkyrie stared at her, confused. The queen's lightning crackled and hissed, a sound not dissimilar to fire, but somehow more chilling. Then the queen smiled.

Sigrún didn't see her move, but suddenly the queen was in the air in front of her a fist raised to strike. She barely managed to raise her shield in time to stop the blow, but the queen simply flipped over Sigrún and aimed a kick at her back. The very young Valkyrie felt the heat at the back of her neck as she jumped forward and rolled, getting away from the queen.

She was fast.

"Lightning," the queen explained and spread her hands wide. "I can channel it to me and use it to strike as hard and fast as it."

A few bolts of lightning traveled over her clothing and skin as she moved, but most of it stayed near her fists and boots. This was why she wore no metal armor, not even chainmail, and carried no sword. It would only weigh her down and get in her way.

"There is one difference between myself and lightning though," the queen promised. "Lightning is there and gone, but I have very good stamina. That's a difference between you and me."

Sigrún snickered. "I have plenty of stamina to deal with one human, even a demihuman like you."

"Do you now?" The queen challenged, tilting her head to one side. "Then why didn't you just use a spell to knock my shadows from the sky the second time? Why did you have to chase them down?"

There was silence from Sigrún. The only sound was from the Outcasts and pirates sounding alarms and running around shouting, and the ever-present wind and waves of the island. The queen smiled.

"I thought as much," she nodded. "You might have stamina for combat, but you're out of magic, aren't you? Well, if you don't have magic then I suppose that puts us on even grounds."

Sigrún had tightened her grip on her sword's hilt, but now she laughed. "There is no way a mortal can stop a Valkyrie like me."

"Let's see then, shall we?"

Sigrún's laughter faded away grimly and the queen chuckled to herself. Then she raised her fists and ran at her, a mere blur that moved as fast as lightning. She hit Sigrún's shield, a shockwave of power cracking the ground and booming through the air around the women. Sigrún clenched her teeth together as the queen smiled.

Sigrún didn't know who had enhanced the queen, but she knew this demihuman affair had started with Loki and Lief. Unlike most Valkyries, she really hated Hela's father.

* * *

Loki lay on the floor of his cell, arms crossed behind his head, staring at the ceiling. He was smiling as he softly sang something to himself. The song was reminiscent of a lullaby, but the words had been changed.

"Rest now child, don't be afraid.

Listen to your soul and you shall't go astray.

Follow the stars and don't look down.

The crown shall be yours.

Stand tall and proud,

Your power is your own.

What you do not have, you one day shall.

Do not fear to take risks

And the power shall be yours

Rest now child, don't be afraid

Listen to your soul and you shall't go astray.

Follow the stars and don't look down.

The crown shall be _mine._ "

Loki's smile grew and then he started laughing.

* * *

 **Skye managed to get to the Berserkers with a damaged wing, but Merrik really needed the rescue. He should have been dead in a matter of minutes - at most. Those that can heal can also kill. Just as Valkyries can take souls they can also put them back. The question is, what is Loki planning? The Allfather is the ruler of the Nine Realms and he quite obviously wants that position but how does he plan to get it, and how much of a chance to does he really stand?**

 **Yes,** **Sigrún** **is very young and inexperienced, but she is also an immortal Valkyrie (the Norse equivalent of an angel) who uses magic secondary anyway. Who thinks the pirate queen can beat her?**


	27. Ambush

"There's a strong wind coming from Outcast," Willem observed as he ate breakfast on the deck of Vorg's ship with the rest of the Berserkers.

Leery of the fact that they were in Berk's harbor, none of the Berserkers said what they were thinking despite thinking the same thing. Maybe the wind would help Merrik and his squad get to Berk quicker. The sooner they arrived the sooner the Berserkers could level Berk and move on to Outcast.

Vorg nodded at Willem's observation and looked up to where Kata sat on the top of the mast with Trick. The girl was looking in Outcast's direction. He shook his head, wishing Kata would come down as Arin came up from below deck where he had been eating with Lief.

"Lief says something's about to happen," Arin told Vorg softly as he walked past him, "but he's not sure what."

Vorg narrowed his eyes, but gave no other reaction to Arin's words. Trick flew down from overhead with a squawk and snatched Vorg's spyglass before flying back up to Kata. Any complaint Vorg had died when he saw Kata whisk the spyglass away and quickly look through it in the direction Outcast was. Everyone watched her, holding their breath.

The waves had gotten stronger, an indication of the coming storm, so it wasn't easy for Kata to find the brief spot of white on the horizon a second time. She managed it though, and a smile spread across her lips. There was the gigantic captured pirate ship. It was approaching Berk at last. Kata raised her spyglass to the ship's mast where a red pennant had been mounted. Black if Dagur was dead and red if they had gotten him alive.

"Yes," she whispered, pumping her fist.

Excitement made her nerves tingle as she passed the spyglass back to Trick and quickly climbed down the mast, jumping to the deck of the ship.

"They're here," she announced to the crew, "red flag."

A murmur went racing across the other Berserkers followed by blood-driven smiles.

"Fall into your positions," she ordered them, "and stick to the plan. You know what to do."

A quiet salute of "yes chief" came from the Berserkers and Kata smiled at them. Taking a few Berserker soldiers with her, Kata went onto dry land. They would need to wait until Merrik arrived, but they could get ready. It was almost time. Kata was supposed to sign the treaty today, so the Berkians that saw them walking instantly assumed that's where they were going.

"Is everything in place?" Kata asked Willem as they walked at a brisk clip.

"Aye," Willem agreed. "We've set charges in the armory and Arin had a chat with one of Hiccup's riders. He knows where the Book of Dragons is, and he'll get it once everything starts. The fleet will move into position once they see the flagship."

Kata nodded satisfactorily, brushing her hair out of her face. Despite it being morning, thick stormclouds made it impossible for the sun to shine. The dimness would add to the confusion, but she figured Berk would figure out it was under attack once the killing started. How she would savor the look on Stoick's face when he realized he had been played.

Her lips spread in a smile, already looking forward to the day's events.

 **...**

"You're not going anywhere."

"Oh yes I am. The Chief needs me in the sky so I'm going to be in the sky."

"Kata has Lief to help with the dragons."

"Just because Berserk's dragons listen to him doesn't mean Berk's will. The plan is for me to eliminate Hiccup. Toothless can't fly without a rider so that will eliminate him and I've had my fill of fighting Nightfuries. I'm fine and so is Skye, so I'm going."

"She broke her wing."

"It's just a sprain, and it's already mended."

"Aren't you the _least bit_ concerned that you were ambushed by two Nightfuries at Berserk?"

"Course. I'm also concerned that there was a second Pirate fleet mixed in with Alvin's ships. We were prepared for one fleet to be on Outcast, and now there are two so we'll have to rethink our attack strategy. We're at Berk right now though and first things first."

"How do you expect to use your arrows when it's so windy out?"

 _*Sigh.*_ "I'll think of something Jodi. They're my arrows and I'm following the chief's plan. Shouldn't you be with Dagur?"  
"I'm fairly certain he'll live. Whether or not you will is still in the air. Isn't it a little stupid to go into battle with an injured dragon Merrik?"

"It is, but Skye's the only dragon we have. Kata doesn't know she's been injured so she'll act according to plan. Do you want me to just leave her without aerial backup?"

Silence…

"I thought so. Look Jodi, I'll be fine. I have no intention of dying today."

"No warrior ever does."

 **...**

Stoick was pleasantly surprised to see the Berserkers approaching the Great Hall on time. He had learned over the past few days that they had a tendency to sleep in.

"Hello Kata," Stoick greeted her.

"Hello Stoick," Kata returned the greeting with an unusually pleasant smile.

Stoick was a little wary of the smile but put it aside. "Shall we finalize the treaty?"

"We could," Kata admitted.

There was a flash of red overhead as Skye dipped beneath the clouds long enough for Kata to see them.

"Or," Kata decided, "We could not."

She raised a hand casually and the Berserkers with Kata instantly turned on the Berkians nearby. Stoick gave a start when the attack happened and suddenly the red dragon dove below the clouds. He flew down and Skye spat a fireball at a nearby building. The cue sounded, someone ignited the Monstrous Nightmare gel stashed in the armory, and the Berserkers on the boat leapt into action as the fleet and flagship approached the harbor.

"Sorry Stoick," Kata told him cheerfully, her smile genuine, "but I just can't forgive you for turning Dagur over to Alvin. What?" She added at Stoick baffled gaze, "Did you think I did? Boy, my brother was right. You Berkians are gullible."

The armory exploded and the screams began as the Berserkers reached the Berkians. Toothless and the other dragons took to the sky as Merrik swooped to meet them.

"Hey!" Astrid shouted at him. "You're the archer from before!"

Merrik, an arrow clipped onto his bow, bowed as best he could in the saddle. When he straightened, Hiccup was able to see that the Berserker crest was stamped onto the vest over his heart. It hadn't been there during Merrik's last attack on Berk's riders. Toothless growled as he recognized his attackers.

"I don't suppose you'd just surrender and let Kata do what she came here to do?" Merrik asked. "I'll give you one chance."

Hiccup didn't even need to look down at the burning armory or the fire that was trying to spread across other huts. He needed no reminder.

"Riders!" Hiccup ordered instead. "Attack!"

A random clustering of shots were fired, but Skye gracefully dodged it. At Merrik's urging, she fly hard and fast to the harbor, heading for the cliff edge where Lief would be waiting. It was time to see how much good Loki's upgrade did. The dragons gave chase.

"Of course," Kata continued as she rocked on her heels. "I imagine my brother is going to get a good laugh when I tell him how well a 90-pound girl was able to fool the mighty _Stoick the Vast_."

She laughed, touching the back of her hand to her lips. Stoick trusted the villagers to be able to counter the threat on their own, so did not leave the girl. This would be the only explanation he felt he would get, and Kata's words had given him a good start.

"Dagur's alive?" He asked.

Kata nodded in agreement, twirling a throwing dagger between her fingers. "Yes. He's not in the best of shape right now you understand. Alvin has been torturing him for the past month, ever since he faked Dagur's death. I imagine he's been enjoying himself with my brother considering how close to death he was when my other team pulled him out of Outcast."

Kata was exaggerating here as she had no idea what shape Merrik had found Dagur in. She hadn't talked with him yet. All she knew was that he was alive and that Alvin was torturing him. The latter fact made it easy to guess just how healthy Dagur was.

"I intend to make Alvin pay for harming my brother, and I intend to have my fleet level Outcast," Kata admitted, not seeing the harm in speaking now. "You have a treaty with Alvin though, and I can't move onto Outcast and leave you intact. You'd likely come to Alvin's aid and I don't want my troops caught between two armies. Not exposing your flank is one of the first tricks I learned when I started playing _Maces and Talons_."

"Maces and Talons!" Stoick nearly shouted. "This is not Maces and Talons. This is real life and you are playing with real lives."

"I know," Kata promised with a nod. "Real life is harder then a game. In real life, you cannot reset the pieces. Lives are precious like that. I have to choose between the lives of my Berserkers - my friends, the people I've grown up with, and my brother – or the lives of strangers I barely know. Given those options, which would you do? The answer should be obvious.

Stoick understood her thinking on paper, but life was life. No life was worth more the any other.

"You really shouldn't have made a treaty with Alvin," Kata pointed out mildly, her voice nearly lost in a scream. "If you hadn't, I probably would have ignored Berk on my way to Outcast."

Overhead, the five Berk dragons continued their rapid-fire attack against Merrik and Skye. None of their attacks landed against the red and black dragon. Stoick looked up at Kata's rider, surprised and frustrated by his skill. Kata smiled when she saw where his eyes went and clasped her hands behind her back in a childish manner.

"Skye's a real find," Kata told the chief cordially. "I'm afraid we don't have a name for her species yet. It's a new one from outside the Archipelago. Agile isn't she?"

Kata thought about mentioning the venom in Skye's bite, but didn't say anything. There was no fun in spoiling the surprise. Instead, she turned and began to walk down to the harbor.

"Hold on," Stoick told her. When she didn't stop he said in a stronger voice. " _Wait_."

Kata continued to ignore him and walk away. Stoick didn't want to attack a twelve-year-old girl, but he had to, if only to take her prisoner. He had seen her Berserkers obey her, which showed a level of loyalty between her and her men. Pheraps with her as his prisoner they would stand down.

With no choice, Stoick began to go after her. Kata smiled and sidestepped when Stoick reached to grab her shoulder. A dagger slid from her sleeve as she whipped around and slashed the back of hishand with the dagger. It was a shallow slash, but deep enough to draw blood. Instinct made Stoick pull his hand back and Kata hopped backwards. When she saw that her dagger had indeed broken the skin, she smiled. A scratch was all her special dagger needed to take care of an opponent.

With a smile, she took a step back off the edge of a small cliff and dropped onto the stone courtyard beneath it. Stoick shook off the scratch and gave chase, but Kata was light on her feet. A Berserker came out of nowhere, forcing Stoick to drop back and dispatch his target. He took up the Berserker's ax once he punched him out, but realized that he had lost Kata.

He swore, regretting the tour he had given her earlier. She had a sharp memory. A brisk wind picked up, the leading front of the storm. Embers were picked up and swirled through the air with ash. There would be time to deal with Kata later. Right now, he had a village to defend. Stoick turned back and started giving out orders as he snatched up a shield and jumped into the fray.

 **...**

Amid the crackling of fire, the clash of weapons, and the screams, Lief walked calmly onto the cliff edge. There was a great deal going on, but he had managed to find a clear spot. Overhead, Skye flew towards him with all due speed. Skye's feathers gave her an unnatural degree of stealth and an overwhelming ability to maneuver, but her speed in a flat out dash left something to be desired.

Lief closed his eyes and his hair and clothing began to ruffle. The wind was blowing from the east, but his hair was moving as if touched by a westward wind. Slowly, his fine white hair began to glow with gentle luminescence.

Skye flew over Lief's head with the five dragons on his tail. Lief didn't hesitate. Over the past few years, many divine beings had come to Berserk, curious about Loki's attraction to it. Most had left without problem, but a few had overstayed their welcome or dabbled a little too much for Lief's liking. Thus, he had removed them from the isle.

As a god-touched, only he had the power needed to deal with such intruders. Once he had even forced Freyr, a god from Vanaheim, to leave against his will. Freyr was a god of peace and fertility with no taste for battle, so it hadn't been that difficult for Lief. He had crossed paths with two Jötnar brother and even a demon from Muspelheim. Kata wanted the Berserker's to take their rightful place as a powerful tribe - a tribe to be feared. Berserk had already become a place many divine beings feared. All Lief had to do was help Kata teach that lesson to the mortals.

Lief had never revealed the extent between of his abilities to mortals before. He didn't dare. It was strange, but Lief didn't even think about his full range of abilities outside of combat situations.

The gods of Asgard knew the extent of Lief's powers, but they – Odin – had never directly interfered and killed him. Odin let Loki's game of an enhanced human be played and let Lief patrol his own island. Lief was going to have to be very careful about how much power he used today. If he crossed that unspoken line, Odin would kill him. Right now, Lief was a novelty. He didn't want to make himself seem like a threat.

"Lief!" Merrik called down.

"I know," Lief said softly, his voice echoing so all the riders were able to hear him over the sounds.

He did not hesitate despite his wariness, knowing that he couldn't let Kata down. Kata was his chief, not Odin. The dragons approached him and Lief slowly opened his eyes as Merrik and Skye passed overhead. The whites of his eyes were now glowing with the same soft luminescence as his hair, and Lief extended the index and middle fingers into a halberd shape, pointing in the dragons' direction.

* * *

Sitting on the throne of Hliðskjálf within his golden hall of Gladsheimr, it was easy for the Allfather, Odin, to overlook the nine realms. Right now, he was looking at the Isle of Berk and at Lief's aura. It was so similar to Loki it almost made Odin's skin crawl. Twas little wonder though, as Lief was an acolyte of Loki.

The troublesome part might be about to come. He looked to one side with his good eye and was able to see Loki sitting in his cell. Loki was still singing his lullaby, substituting the words to make it say "The crown shall be mine." Treason from Loki was hardly a surprise, so he barely bat an eye at it.

What made Odin frown was how calm Loki was. Lief was his soldier, so Loki should be able to sense he was about to go into battle. Wasn't he the least bit worried about his soldier's life? No, Odin supposed Loki would not be. He was too confident, too arrogant that no one would get in his way.

Perhaps he should be taught a lesson. Perhaps Odin had been too lenient on Loki. Perhaps that needed to change. What better way to teach Loki his place then to remind his that he kept his assets on Earth, such as Lief, only so long as Odin permitted it. Odin ruled, not Loki.

Odin raised the golden spear he held in his hand, Gungnir, and it glowed in response. Yes, Odin decided, Loki needed to be put in his place.

* * *

 **The gods normally don't get involved in the slightest bit with human affairs. Humans die so easily, from injury, illness, and simple age. A god could kill a human with a casual slap, snapping their spine in two. At most, humans live for a hundred years, but most rarely live more then fifty. Human kingdoms and villages rise and fall with few existing more then a few centuries.**

 **Gods are immortal. They do not age. Their kingdom has stood for millennium and ( _unless something happens_ ) will remain for thousands of years to come.**

 **Humans do have one thing going for them. Each human wants to make a mark that will last so they will be remembered after their death, but they only have a handful of decades to do so. This makes them ambitious. T** **hey are also adaptive, able to change with the times, overnight if needed. Unlike gods, who often have a hard time taking anything seriously, humans are loyal.**

 **Adaptive and ambitious, loyal instead of frivolous, with the power of a god.** **That sounds like a bad idea to me and a worse one to Odin.**


	28. The Touch of a God

Lief looked into the sky at the five approaching dragons with an almost serene look. The whites of his eye were glowing with the same gentle luminescence as his hair, giving him a very inhuman appearance. He dismissed the glow, suppressing it so it was no longer in the visible spectrum to avoid drawing attention. His right hand was pointing at Berk's dragons with the index and middle finger extended in a halberd shape.

"Dragons," he said, still speaking in the soft voice that seemed to echo so all could hear him, "hear and obey me. Now!"

His voice echoed sharply and the riders jerked in their saddles as the dragons flared out their wings and came to a stop, hovering in front of the small child. They struggled, but Lief simply pressed his will onto them. Their pupils contracted to narrow slits when he got hold of them.

"Land," he ordered them, his right hand flicking to the ground at his feet.

Against the struggling of their riders, all five dragons landed in a semi-circle before him. Toothless was struggling the most, shaking his head. Lief focused on the Nightfury in particular, irritated. Nightfuries were so stubborn.

Astrid dismounted, leaving her battle axe on her saddle for once. "Hey! Stop that kid."

"Ah, no," Lief disagreed, waving his hand towards her and the other riders. "Stay."

Astrid froze in place as if her feet were stuck to the ground, unable to take a step forward. Her eyes widened in panic as she tried and failed to take a step. She couldn't even raise her arms. Lief nodded, having successfully duplicated his dragon alpha aura to handle humans.

There was a whizz overhead and two crossbow bolts came in his direction. Lief held out a hand as if to say stop and the metal bolts froze. They hung suspended in the air without moving as if their forward momentum had been stolen. Then the bolts fell to the ground, landing on top of each other with a metallic clink.

"What _are_ you?" Hiccup asked bluntly.

"Human most days," Lief told him sarcastically. "I'm just a special one. Not many have been blessed by the gods."

"The gods?" Snotlout snorted. "Yeah right."

"Yes," Lief said flatly. "Odin doesn't like it when the other gods start to meddle with humans, he's bratty like that, but not all gods pay him much heed."

"Ah, did you just call Odin bratty?" Fishlegs asked cautiously.

Lief thought about it and then said with a shrug, "well he is."

Hiccup stroked Toothless as he dragon started to thrash again, trying to physically shake Lief's order. Lief glanced at the dragon and narrowed his eyes slightly, clenching his teeth. Nightfuries and Skrill had one thing in common besides their classification as Strike. Neither were very good at taking orders. He struggled to subdue the Nightfury and finally managed to stomp down his will. It likely wouldn't hold for long.

"Get off your dragons," Lief addressed the riders, with the exception of Astrid who was already on the ground, " _now_."

The five remaining riders dismounted, dropping to the ground beside their dragons. There was no hesitation in the action. Once their feet were on the ground though, they exchanged baffled looks at each other and themselves. Although their looks became concentrated, they weren't able to move or remount their silently sitting dragons.

Astrid sighed while Lief smiled excitement. The light from nearby fires reflected off his eyes, illuminating them so they were too bright. He clapped his hands in front of him once, bouncing lightly on his toes as he gave a giddy giggle. Lief looked exuberant, and he seemed to be having genuine trouble keeping his enthusiasm in check.

"The looks on your faces under my power are truly memorable," Lief told them as he laughed and spun in place once to burn energy. "That look when your hope is taken away. Such crestfallen, pitiful looks as you realize there is absolutely _nothing_ you can do to stop me. The despair is so… memorable."

"Memorable?" Hiccup asked, recoiling from Lief's smile. "What do you mean?"

"There are many advantages to being god-touched," Lief informed them as he hummed happily. "I can protect my home and my tribe from threats both mortal and divine. Sometimes my mentor, the god that gave me these gifts, helps me, but I don't need his help as I once did. I've grown into my powers, although I certainly prefer him giving me the foresight to see with problems before they happen."

Lief looked away and made a face as a particularly shrill scream cut through the air. The wind got a little stronger and the people could now distantly hear thunder from the approaching storm.

"One of the problems with it is that it makes everything so easy," Lief glanced back at them, shoulders slumped as if he was disappointed. "I would never withhold my powers just to make things more interesting if it puts my home in danger, so problems are easily dealt with. Fights get boring."

"Boring?" Astrid asked, not understanding.

"Yes," Lief told her seriously. "It's too easy to kill my opponents. It's boring."

The riders were looking at him but Lief didn't seem to be paying any attention as he focused on keeping the dragons under his control.

"That look you have," Lief readdressed them as he smoothed the dragons, "that makes it fun to fight. It's so funny. When you got off your dragon Astrid, you didn't even take your axe. Your face didn't say 'I'm _going to_ deal with the boy' it said 'I _will_ deal with the boy'. You were so certain you would have no trouble. Such arrogance. Now there is nothing but fear as you realize just how fragile you are. Humans are so easy for me to kill now."

Lief ran a hand through his white bangs thoughtfully. He thought he could understand why Loki enjoyed causing mischief and strife so much. It was fun to see how easily people's hopes could turn to dust when they realized they were against an impossible host.

"Your fear masked by frustration, anger, and hate," Lief corrected, "but it's there."

There was a groaning crack as one of the huts collapsed under the strain of fire, the wood splintering as the building collapsed in on itself. A flurry of embers, like glowing snowflakes, flew upwards and then leisurely drifted down. The sound of the fire, more than anything else, was becoming deafening. A multitude of dragons that normally lived in Berk were flying away, but not even one stayed to try to help the humans fight the Berserkers. Hiccup guessed the boy before them had something to do with that.

Lief turned as a pair of humans ran over and slid to a stop, but the brief hope Hiccup and the other riders felt was soon dashed. It wasn't reinforcements, but other Berserkers. Hiccup saw Lief glance over at the riders and smirk as if he enjoyed their brief hope before he faced the Berserkers.

"L-Lief?" One of them stuttered.

"Obviously," Lief told them with a smile, "who else?"

"But you…" the other tried and failed to speak a full sentence as he looked at the dragons and humans.

"Do you remember when I was attacked by a Monstrous Nightmare several years ago?" Lief asked them. "It was around the time my hair turned white."

"What about it?" The first said warily, his axe partially raised towards the boy.

"I died," Lief told them, speaking loud enough for the riders to hear. The humans gave a suitable start and Lief smiled again before continuing. "I just didn't stay dead. When one of the gods brought me back, they made it so I could do more than before."

"This is the first I head of it," the second accused.

Lief shrugged. "I didn't particularly feel the need to explain myself to the rest of you. I knew you wouldn't understand it. You're perception is limited by your superstition. Kata's orders changed the circumstance."

Lief looked towards the Berserker, away from the dragons, and Toothless took advantage of the chance to spit a plasma bolt at him. An instant before it connected, Lief looked up at the shot. It exploded as it made contact with a strange flicker of green and Hiccup held his breath, a small part of him hoping the hit had connected. When he tried and failed to move though, he realized it hadn't.

"No way," Hiccup whispered as he stared at the spot where Lief stood.

Tendrils of purple haze leftover from the plasma shot wafted away and revealed Lief. He was standing in the same spot, no worse for wear. One of his hands was outstretched and it seemed to have taken the brunt of the attack. Lief winced as he lowered his hand and looked at his palm. Minor burn marks singed the surface of his skin on the palm and fingers.

"Your dragon wasn't holding back," Lief observed as he looked at his injured hand. "That would have killed me had it connected – blown me to bits."

There was a flicker of green around his hand and form, the same flicker of green Hiccup had seen when the plasma shot had hit. Had something got in the way?

Lief smiled, knowing that the humans and dragons around him were very confused. He himself didn't have a real explanation for the protective sheen that had appeared and absorbed the brunt of the plasma shot before it had touched Lief's skin. The closest comparison he had was a curtain of energy that had come between himself and the attack. It wasn't the first time it had helped him.

"Too bad it wasn't strong enough," Lief observed and held out his hand.

The red discoloration that stood out so starkly against his pale skin seemed to shift as the burns healed before everyone's eyes. It took less than three seconds for the burns to vanish completely. Lief looked at his hand and then wiggled the fingers to show there was no pain. He gave the riders a mischievous smile that might have been impish if there wasn't such a malicious undercurrent and lowered his hand.

Without turning to look back at his decidedly freaked out kinsmen Lief said, "don't you two have Berkians to kill? Kata doesn't want survivors."

Without a word, they bolted. That hurt Lief's feelings a bit, but he brushed it aside. He had known that would happen. When his brothers and some of their friends found out about his abilities, they had reacted in a similar way. They only knew about his visions and alpha aura though, so it hadn't been too hard for them to accept. They'd never seen in him combat and he'd taken pains to keep it that way. The last thing he wanted was for his brothers to shy away from him in fear. When the battle was over and his brothers saw him again he feared they would.

"I won't kill you Hiccup," Lief promised the chief's son. "Kata said she would prefer you alive. Unfortunately though, she never mentioned anything about your dragon."

Panic tightened in Hiccup's chest when Lief said that, panic that only grew when he saw the calm, slightly excited gleam in his eyes. His face betrayed his panic and that seemed to fuel Lief's smile as the Berserker turned to one side. The child held out a hand and made a beckoning motion.

One of the two crossbow bolts Lief had earlier stopped rose off the ground and floated over to him. He held out a hand palm up and the bolt hovered above it, pointing itself at Toothless's chest. Toothless was incapable of moving from the spot, pinned under Lief's gaze.

"No!" Hiccup shouted as Lief let the crossbow bolt fly at Toothless.

Lief's smile turned to horror as Hiccup, whom he had not been paying attention to, threw himself in front of the bolt. A desperate motion from Lief that tried to stop the bolt before it killed him was in vain. There was a wet, dull thud as the bolt skewered Hiccup. It went through Hiccup's chest and stayed embedded there. Astrid screamed his name and Lief hissed in distress.

Lief's control over Toothless snapped as Hiccup fell to the ground. Toothless's plasma blast hit the curtain of energy and dispersed again but the telekinetic force behind it made Lief stumble backwards. The Nightfury lowered his muzzle and touched Hiccup, his breath ruffling his human brother's hair. Hiccup was still conscious and he gave Toothless a pained smile but he wasn't able to say anything through the fire in his chest. A drop of blood ran from the corner of his mouth to the ground and Hiccup's consciousness slipped away. His head lay still on the ground and Toothless nudged it. Hiccup's head moved and then fell back into position, limp.

Lief straightened with a growl and dusted off his clothes that had been ruffled by the plasma shot. He had no idea Toothless was harboring that much power behind his shot.

"I guess I touched a nerve," Lief muttered. "Stupid human, I wasn't going to kill _you_ , just your dragon."

He paused when he heard Toothless growl and slowly raised his head, white hair falling across his face. Toothless had stepped over Hiccup's limp body and faced Lief. Lief stood his ground.

"Stay," Lief ordered the other riders and their dragons to prevent them from interfering.

The command stuck.

"You stay to," Lief ordered Toothless. Toothless flared his wings and opened his jaws to charge another plasma blast. "I said stay!"

Toothless shot. Rather than block it, Lief jumped to one side and let it hit a hut behind him. The hut exploded into splinters. Fragments of wood, both large and small, went hurtling out in every direction.

Lief mimed holding a shield in his left hand and raised the invisible shield. A particularly large splinter of wood hit the "shield" he had raised in front of him and when it hit the air rippled emerald, revealing that he was indeed holding a circular shield. It was just invisible. The wood ricocheted away, leaving Lief unharmed and he whipped around to face Toothless.

Lief leaped to one side and rolled as Toothless leaped at him. Skye flew down overhead and Merrik sighted his arrow, an arrow with blue feather fletchings. He moved his arrow twenty degrees to the right of his target and released. The sharp wind pushed his arrow to the left so it flew true and embedded itself in Toothless's throat. While Lief came into a standing position with the invisible shield in front of him Toothless landed hard on the ground and did not rise again.

Astrid clenched her teeth in despair as Skye landed almost silently. Merrik already had another arrow nocked and he flashed Astrid a smile. Astrid simmered as the archer once again downed Toothless.

Merrik dismounted in a smooth move and walked over to Hiccup. He rolled the dragon rider over with a boot so Hiccup was on his back and grimaced at the sight of the crossbow bolt.

"I know," Lief sighed and relaxed his grip, letting the invisible shield fade. "Kata wants him alive."

"He's already dead you know," Merrik pointed out calmly. "With a wound like that, he'll be dead by sunset – before probably."

He looked at Hiccup without batting an eye as Hiccup's breathing became fainter and more ragged. Astrid wanted to scream at him to move. She just couldn't. There had been times where she had been helpless before, but nothing like this. Only the spoken command of a child kept her mutely pinned. If she couldn't help Hiccup, then she wanted the Berserkers to tend his wound, even if he was taken prisoner. She and the others could rescue Hiccup after someone stabilized him.

"Just get him to Jodi," Lief ordered him shortly.

"What about the dragon?" Merrik asked with a glance at Toothless.

"I'll kill it and the others," Lief assured him. "Go drop Hiccup off and meet up with Kata."

"Fine," Merrik told him with a smile – a smile.

He knelt and grabbed Hiccup by his wrists, dragging him backwards to where Skye crouched down. With only a little trouble, he hauled Hiccup into Skye's saddle and draped him across the front of it like a bag of flour. Merrik mounted into the saddle and Skye took off, heading to the fleet in the bay. Astrid couldn't even turn her head and track the dragon to see which ship Hiccup was dropped on.

"Now," Lief sighed as he turned to the riders and their dragons, "to deal with you."

He held out his hands to either side of him and slowly raised them. The wooden shards from the destroyed hut quivered and then rose into the air. A twitch of his fingers and the splinters, quite a few of which were longer than his forearm, rotated so the points were aimed at the children and their dragons. Snotlout cringed, the twins looked floored, Meatlug made a whimpering noise, and Astrid was beyond infuriated. To think that she was going to be killed by a child…

"Goodbye," Lief told them. "I promise that unlike me, you will stay dead."

He lowered his right hand and raised his left one above his head in preparation to signal the shrapnel to fly. Astrid refused to look away from Lief. Lief smiled as if in respect for her bravery. The second crossbow bolt he had stopped, which he had left abandoned in the grass, shifted without Lief noticing.

Lief started to move his hand and then stopped. He gasped and jerked forward, looking confused for some reason. A trickle of blood ran down from his lips. The resurrected Lief felt a trace of energy, energy he recognized. It was no human. Around him, the wooden splinters slipped from his control and fell to the ground.

"Oh you brat," Lief swore.

Lief's legs buckled and he dropped to his knees. Then he fell forward onto his stomach, heartbeat faltering and ending. Embedded in his back was the second crossbow bolt. Unlike the wild shot that had hit Hiccup and gone through his solar plexus, this one was perfectly aimed. It had struck Lief between his third and fourth ribs and skewered his heart for a kill.

His enthralled Berkians were suddenly free, able to move. They looked at each other and Snotlout cheered. Astrid grimly looked around, but saw no one that might have fired the kill shot. She approached Lief's limp form and confirmed he was dead. Instinct for a fallen warrior made her raise a hand and brush Lief's eyes close.

Then she stood and ran back to Stormfly, sharply ordering the other riders to their dragons. She looked over the harbor, but saw that Skye was already heading back to land. There was no way to guess which ship Hiccup was on. That was fine. She'd just beat the information out of Merrik.

"Fishlegs, twins," Astrid ordered, "help the villagers. Snotlout, you're with me. Let's get that archer."

Snotlout followed her hand as she pointed at Merrik and nodded agreement. The riders scattered, and Berk's counterattack, a counterattack that wasn't supposed to happen, began.

* * *

Odin Borrson lowered a hand back to the arm of Hlidskjálf, his throne. From where he sat, he could see the Berkian dragon riders scatter and leave Lief's body behind. It was Odin's fondest wish that the boy stayed dead this time. Obviously, he was a far greater opponent then Loki had led Odin to believe – which didn't surprise Odin. Of course Loki would lie.

The crossbow bolt he had enchanted to kill Lief was still embedded through the boy's heart. Lief had never liked Odin, just as Loki didn't, and he had passed on his attitude to Kata and her clique. It was remarkable, Odin thought, how many humans Loki managed to find that had personalities similar to his.

Odin did not regret killing Lief although he didn't particularly care about what happened to Berk. It was just another human village. There were hundreds more like it. Curious, Odin turned his gaze to Loki's cell. Loki's singing tapered off and he furrowed his brow. He didn't doubt that Loki had noticed his champion's death.

Loki receded into quiet contemplation, not showing any trace of emotion. Perhaps he didn't feel anything for Lief's death. It was likely he didn't care. Lief had entertained him and now he was dead, again. Odin didn't doubt that Loki's helpful personality had shifted back to nihilistic.

Without Lief, Berk's riders were back in the battle. Likely, the Berserkers had already lost. It was their own fault for trusting Loki, the god of mischief and lies.

* * *

 **And the tide of battle changes. A divine opponent deserves some divine intervention i suppose. Are you surprised by how powerful Lief is, or by his personality shift during the fight?**


	29. Plan B

The talisman around Kata Oswalddottir's neck, the one engraved with Loki's serpent crest, became as cold as ice. Kata cringed as it singed her skin with its chill and put the back of her right hand against it, confused. _Danger_ , it seemed to whisper, _danger_ , _beware_.

It was warning her. Loki was warning her. What was going on? How could there be danger? Her plan was working perfectly.

She lowered the back of her right hand from the pendent, the fingers of her hand curled around a bloody dagger. The body of a Berkian was at her feet. For Loki to contact her directly instead of using Lief as a medium hinted it must be dire indeed. Leaving her kill behind, Kata sheathed her daggers and jumped onto the top of a barrel. She leaped to a nearby roof from there and hauled herself up, scrambling to the peak with ease.

A wind from the east threw embers into the air, feeding the flames that were starting to fan around the village. It was getting dangerous to stay. The fire would feed on anyone who strayed too close, and it was starting to rampage. She didn't want her people caught in that. Lief should have killed Berk's riders by now and delivered Hiccup to the fleet. They just needed one more push to eliminate those who still survived.

The push she needed was steadily approaching her from the sky. It was Merrik and she held out one of her knives, reflecting the light on its blade. Skye's wings changed their angle as Merrik made for her location. Kata smiled, thinking she was just about done with Berk.

She inhaled sharply in surprise when she suddenly saw Merrik was being tailed by two dragons – a blue Deadly Nadder and a red Monstrous Nightmare, Berk's dragons. Berk's dragons. How? Lief should have killed them!

"M-Merrik," she whispered.

It was obvious that he hadn't realized he was being followed, or that enemy dragons were closing in.

"Merrik behind you!" She shouted as loud as she could, desperate to be heard over the battle and fire.

She succeeded and Merrik heeded her call at once, turning in the saddle. He saw his pursuers, but rather then raise his bow as Kata thought he would he leaned low onto Skye's back and continued heading towards her. A bundle in his lap was thrown and Kata caught it with one hand. Merrik sheered away once he saw Kata had it so he could attack his pursuer. His image was highlighted by the fire and as he drew an arrow from the saddlebag, his bow in his hands.

"Spineshot!" Astrid ordered Stormfly, wanting to preempt the archer.

Skye twirled out of the way without trouble, her feathers giving her the edge. Merrik drew back on the nocked arrow, fingers brushing the corner of his mouth. Kata saw that the spines which had missed him heading towards her. She dropped to the roof in an attempt to dodge the spines. A spine whizzed over where her head had been, but not all of them missed.

Kata gasped, her voice choking in her throat, as she was suddenly unable to move her arm. Breathing light and quick, she slowly raised her head. The Deadly Nadder spines dotted the roof in a straight line, including the one that had skewered her right forearm to the roof. A dark stain spread across the sleeve of her blue jacket around the spine. It had struck with such force that her arm had been pinned to the roof.

Kata's features twisted in pain. It hurt. She'd been hurt before, but this really hurt. She couldn't even feel her right hand. Deadly Nadder spines were poisoned, she reminded herself. It wasn't a severe enough toxin to kill her, but it was painful nonetheless.

Slowly, hand trembling, she dragged herself up the roof to take the pressure off her arm. She wrapped her left arm around the needle and started to pull it out. The sharpened edges bit into her palm, but she was wearing gloves so it didn't break her skin. She dragged it upward and, with a sucking sound, the spine was pulled free from her flesh.

Kata gasped and opened her shaking hand. The spine dropped to the roof beside her. Fiery pain throbbed in time with her heartbeat on her right arm and she let head fall onto the shingles, exhausted without quite knowing why. Moisture dampened her arm as blood continued to spread along the sleeve of her jacket.

She needed to stop the bleeding, and that meant binding her arm. With effort, limbs feeling leaden from the poison, she sat up and struggled out of her jacket. Gripping a dagger in her left hand, she tore a strip out of the jacket and laboriously wrapped it around her forearm, pulling it tight with her teeth. Her fingers felt fat and lazy. It would take hours before the venom wore off.

She sat up, head spinning, and picked up the bundle Merrik had thrown at her. Slowly she slid off the roof and dropped to the ground, missing her feet and landing on her hands and knees. The environment around her spun. Her special knife, the one she had scratched Stoick with, had fallen from the vambrace of her right arm in the landing. Leaving the cloth bundle by her feet, she picked up the knife with extreme caution and tucked it back into the leather, making sure it clicked into the scabbard.

Her right arm still felt like someone had poured fire into it as she slowly stood, bracing herself on a nearby barrel. Once her feet found themselves, she took a few steps forward. When she didn't fall, she took a few more steps forward.

Two Berserkers appeared before her, and she nodded at them, trying to look as if she were fine. "Where is Stoick?"

"Up ahead," one answered.

The other one narrowed his eyes when he saw her injured arm. Her makeshift bandage was already blooming into a red rose from the blood.

"What happened to your arm?" He asked.

"That damn Astrid had her dragon hit me with one of the spines," Kata snapped, cradling her right arm against her chest. "I am going to repay her for that, but not now. Stoick?"

"This way," the first said.

Kata nodded and they began a quick jog, one leading Kata and the other bringing up the rear. A pounding headache blossomed behind her temples, but she didn't let it slow her down. After the battle she would be able to relax and have a healer look at her wounds, but not until then. The item in Kata's hand swung as she jogged. It was Hiccup's fur vest. There was a ragged hole in the center of it surrounded by blood. Hiccup had obviously been injured, but, since Kata hadn't been there in person, she didn't know what had caused it. She had no doubt Stoick would recognize whose vest it was.

The sounds of the battle she heard as she crossed the burning village set her teeth on edge instead of making her smile. Two of Berk's riders were working to rout her people while the other two were doing their best to kill Merrik and Skye. The Berkians had gone soft and become over dependent on the dragons for protection. It should have been an easy victory once the dragons were eliminated, so why weren't they eliminated? What had happened to Lief?

The Berkians were recovering from the shock and betrayal of the Berserkers and they were beginning to organize a counter attack. Her people were going to start being killed instead of doing the killing. She didn't want them to die. This attack was meant to secure her tribe's place in the Archipelago, to recover from the embarrassment of the war Dagur had lost.

 _A treaty is just a piece of paper with ink on it_ , Dagur had told Kata. _It won't protect you in the face of an enemy invasion. If someone means to betray you, the treaty is good for nothing but tinder. The only way to keep Berserk safe – to protect our home and our people is to make sure the other tribes fear us too much to attack. Instead of being at the bottom of the totem pole with nothing but paper promises that we won't be betrayed, we need the other tribes too scared to do so. The Archipelago needs to understand that we Berserkers are not easy prey. It's the only way to make sure our home is safe. Treaties and alliances are meaningless because in the end, the other tribes will always betray us. We cannot show weakness. Only strength will prevail._

Only strength would prevail. That lesson had been drummed into Kata by her brother and the other Berserkers ever since she was a young girl. Oswald had always told her otherwise, saying that treaties and trust were the best, and that only proved how big a fool he was. If the other tribes were too scared to attack them, then Berserk would not be in danger. It was the _only way_ to guarantee her tribe's safety.

 _Humans obey treaties and the like only when it suits them_ , Lief had told Kata, quoting Loki. _They follow_ their _agenda first. If it's in their best interest to betray their allies then they will do so. Humans are selfish and petty like that. That's why the gods usually stay out of our way. We're so treacherous and dishonorable that we scare even them._

Humans couldn't be trusted to stay true to a treaty. Even if Kata had signed the non-aggression pact with Berk, she knew it was only a matter of time before Berk's agenda put it in conflict with Berserk's. They would put fulfilling that agenda ahead of a scrap of paper with ink on it, and Berserk would be betrayed. If Berk stayed away from Berserk because they feared them, then Berserk need not worry about betrayal because there was no false trust in the first place.

It was simple, depressing logic. Humans were just too fickle of allies. Berserk had been betrayed before. Kata would not let it happen.

"Kata!" Stoick's voice bellowed across the area.

Her men's weapons came up and Kata slowly turned towards the sound, ignoring the not-so gentle twinge of pain that skittered up her injured arm to her shoulder.

"Hello Stoick," Kata greeted him calmly.

Stoick was flanked by two Berkians, standing in front of a flaming warehouse that threw flames into the sky behind him. He had an axe and shield, as did one of the two with him. The other was Gobber, and he had a hook locked into the stump of his left hand and a shield in the right hand.

Her plan was falling apart, but no plan ever survived first engagement with the enemy. A good commander was able to adapt to the ever-changing reality of battle. The Berserkers had not lost this yet.

Kata made a show of looking around him before asking, "No Hiccup? I do hope your son is all right. Battle can be so… dangerous."

Stoick's whole demeanor darkened. He had noticed that although the other riders had returned to the skies, Hiccup was not among them.

"Where is he?" He demanded.

His threatening tone made the Berserkers with Kata raise their weapons a little more and Kata eyed them. She shook her head as if disappointed in their skittishness. In response, she held up the vest, the brown fur caked with blood at the center where Hiccup must have been injured.

"He's safe for now, but his life depends on your answer," Kata told the chief smoothly, watching as Stoick's eyes got large and then narrowed when he recognized the vest.

So what if the other riders were free? She still had Hiccup. Given the damage to his vest though, she wasn't sure if she had gotten him alive. Dead or alive, it didn't matter as long as Stoick thought he was alive and did as she bid.

"Unless you want me to signal that Hiccup be killed, I bid thee drop thy weapons," Kata ordered him harshly. "Don't think I won't do it."

"I wouldn't dream of it," Stoick told her, his gaze freezingly cold. "I expect you're capable of doing such things that would make your brother proud."

"Thank you," she said with a smile. "Now then, drop your weapons."

She raised her right hand, ignoring the screaming protest her body gave her. Her arm hesitated when it reached shoulder height, unwilling to go any higher. Something touched her arm, feeling very much like a hand. Kata could see no one was there, but she felt the pressure of fingers as her arm was fully raised above her head. The person helping her throbbing arm rise exhaled and she felt their warm breath on the back of her neck, making the hair there stand up. There was a flicker of warmth on her chest from her pendent, and she realized he was the one helping her. It wasn't as if she minded the god's interference, but shouldn't he be helping Lief?

"I have seen that type wound before," Stoick said, speaking softly as he looked at the vest. "I've never seen anyone survive a wound like that. He's already dead, isn't he?"

Kata paused, "he's alive."

She was lying, unsure of his status. Like Stoick, she'd seen injuries of this nature from when the pirate's had raided Berserk. It was likely he wasn't. He was calling her bluff.

The original plan was to have Merrik in a place where he could be seen by Stoick. Stoick would assume that Merrik would relay Kata's order of executing Hiccup or not. Merrik was busy fighting off dragon riders that were supposed to be dead, so he wasn't here. Without him, her bluff was growing weaker.

Loki's grip on her arm faded away but the pain from the poisoned spine was gone, so she had no trouble keeping her arm up. The injury from the spine remained and she could feel blood running down her raised arm towards her shoulder. That was normal pain though, and she could shift it to the back of her mind to ignore it. She heard Loki chuckle before his presence vanished, and she had a feeling she was on her own. Lief had told her about Loki's personality, so she wasn't surprised. He was almost as whimsical and fickle as a human, and he wouldn't hold her hand and babysit her like some immortals might.

Stoick's expression was fractured, as if cracks had appeared on his heart and his face was reflecting it. He was faced with a staggering choice. There was always a chance Hiccup was alive, and if he didn't do as she said she'd kill his son. There was an even greater chance that Hiccup as dead, and if he did as she said and surrendered, Hiccup might be saved, but his tribe would likely be executed. Sacrifice his son and save his tribe, or kill his tribe and save his son. As a father there was only one thing he wanted to do, but as a Chief there was only one thing could do.

"Hiccup might be gone, but I will not let my tribe fall," Stoick told her.

Confusion flittered across Kata's eyes, and Stoick knew she had expected him to surrender.

"You're very good at this Kata," Stoick told her sadly. "You're a brilliant chief and tactician, a genius for your age. But there's one critical thing you lack – experience."

Kata whipped around and went back to back with her berserkers, her right hand falling to her side as her daggers came out. Hiccup's vest fell to the ground at her feet. Other Berkians had come out of the shadows, surrounding her and her escort.

"You've just killed your son," Kata bluffed.

She had no way to communicate with her fleet and order Hiccup's death. Stoick might know this was a bluff, but the expression on his face looked even more damaged, as if his heart was being torn in two between his duty as chief and love as a father. He had picked his tribe over his son.

"Please surrender Kata," Stoick ordered the young chief of the Berserkers. "Surrender or you and your men die."

Kata raised her daggers, her emotionless expression unreadable. She didn't have the look of someone who had just been cornered and was about to be defeated.

"You're forgetting something Stoick," Kata remarked, her voice damningly calm. "My fleet outnumbers yours and your dragon riders are too busy to help you. If you won't surrender then we'll just cut through you, one by one."

"Perhaps," Stoick agreed, "but you won't be around to savor their victory."

Stoick paused at his threat and blinked several times, suddenly swaying where he stood. Without relaxing her stance, Kata smiled. She sheathed one of her daggers and drew her small, poisoned knife hidden in her vambrace that she had scratched Stoick with earlier. Kata waved it, and Stoick's expression that something was wrong grew.

Then Stoick's hand went limp and the sword fell from his hand. He dropped to his knees, hands flying out in front of him so he didn't land on his face. Gobber knelt beside him, catching him by the shoulder.

"Stoick!" Gobber said urgently, startled by his action.

"That took longer than I thought," Kata said honestly, tilting her head to one side thoughtfully.

Gobber looked up at her. Embers caught on a breeze drifted between them. Lightning illuminated the cloud-smothered sky.

"He's a very large man," Kata shrugged, "and I only managed to scratch his hand. Given that, it's not surprising it's taken so long for the poison to take effect."

Poison. Stoick remembered Kata turning and scratching him, cutting the back of his hand. She had drawn blood with the strike.

"Once the initial symptoms hit, you have 36 hours until death," Kata continued, her gaze turning to Stoick before shifting back to Gobber. "Unless he gets the antidote, which I have."

No, Stoick tried to say. The sound came out as a hoarse, cracked whisper that was inaudible. His head swam and his mouth was dry. Now that the poison had finally begun to work, it was working fast. Kata's smile was as sharp as a knife's edge, and he was distinctly reminded of a viper when he looked at her. She had the antidote to save his live. He knew what her next words would be.

"The antidote's not with me of course," Kata continued, "so you will not find it on my body if you kill me. You have to let me get it, but I will hardly do that under duress. Since Stoick is no longer able to speak, the question falls to you Gobber. Surrender and I'll give you the antidote. Otherwise, you lose your chief _and_ your heir."

The Berkians which had been about to outflank the Berserkers now hesitated. Kata giggled, unable to help herself.

"Stoick is right about me not having experience as a commander," she admitted, "but unlike what he thinks, I have plenty of experience with things going wrong. I did grow up with Dagur the Deranged after all, and his schemes always go astray. That's why I made sure to poison Stoick. I learned one very important lesson from watching Dagur: always have a backup."

Gobber's expression wavered at Kata's smile.

This was a unique poison compound, Kata knew, one Merrik had custom-made less than a year ago. She had used the knife only once before against pirates, but there had been no survivors from that particular attack. There was no way news of this poison had escaped, or that an antidote could be known to Berk.

"Now then," she said, her voice similar to a purr, "I will repeat my offer. Surrender and get the antidote, or let your chief die by trying to kill me. If you attempt to kill me, I will fight using my poisoned knife. Care to see how many of you I can poison?"

...

 **Kata does not go down without a fight, man, and Loki's going in so much trouble with Odin for continuing to interfere. Comments? Opinions? Guesses on what happens next? Come on readers, I like hearing from you.**


	30. Surrender

Willem Daceson tore across the village, running as fast as he could towards the cliff. He had seen the dragons land, and seen them take off when they should have been killed. Lief had failed to kill them.

When Lief said he would take care of Berk's riders, Willem had been against it. He believed that Lief could compel Berk's dragons to land, but the riders made it too dangerous. Willem had stopped arguing when Lief had held out a hand and made his dagger hover above his palm. With a twist of his wrist and a flick of his hand, the dagger had shot from his palm and embedded itself in the side of the _Wolfwind_ 's hull, nearly hilt deep.

It had still been a risk for his youngest brother, but Lief had pointed out that the Berserkers would need all of their men to take Berk. An escort would only get in his way and he had dealt with dangers far worse than a few humans and their overgrown lizards. He had promised he would explain that comment later as he recalled the dagger. It had glided through the air back to him, the grip landing in his palm. Kata had agreed.

Willem wished she hadn't. Something had obviously happened to his brother.

Willem reached the spot where he had seen the dragons make their forced landing, one hand raised over his eyes. Ash and ember was flying everywhere from the gale force winds that had kicked up. Any minute now, the thunderhead over Berk would break and it would start pouring rain.

He saw a flicker of white and slightly moved his hand to see between his fingers. His breath choked in his throat. The flicker of white was his brother's hair. Lief was lying face down on the ground. A crossbow bolt was sticking out of his back.

Willem's hand fell to his side and the sword he had been holding dropped to the ground. Dazed, oblivious to the fight and the fire around him, Willem approached his brother. His steps were uncertain, almost shambling, and he dropped to his knees when he reached Lief's side.

Lief's heart must have stopped soon after the bolt hit him, for it had not pumped blood out of the wound. Willem slowly reached forward and picked up his brother's body. It had not yet tensed in rigor mortis and he hung limply as Willem cradled him in his arms. His body had just begun to cool, and his eyes were closed.

Willem lowered his head to Lief's chest, but he heard no heartbeat, felt no rise and fall of his chest. His mother had been killed by pirates when Willem was ten, scarcely older then Lief was now. She had been shot through the solar plexus with a crossbow bolt, a wound few survived. Dace had been crippled in the same attack, losing most of the sight in his left eye and gaining a slight limp in his left leg. Willem had promised his mother that he would help his now crippled father protect Arin and Lief.

 _"I want to protect my home,"_ Lief had told Willem a day ago _, "I want to see you and Arin smile. I want to see Kata sitting on the roof of her hut, singing as she pets Trick. I want to see Dagur and Jodi walk along the beach, neither of them carrying weapons because there is no danger. I want Merrik to be lying on the grass, dozing in the sun instead of fletching arrows. I want peace and security for our tribe just as Kata does, and I have the power to help her make it a reality. I want to help, and I will."_

He'd been killed before any of his visions could become a reality – shot in the back by a cowardly Berkian. Willem raised his head from Lief's body. All Lief had wanted to do was help make Berserk a safe place. He wanted to restore the Berserkers' reputation as warriors to be feared, a reputation Oswald had destroyed, so no one would think of crossing them again. Berk and Outcast were supposed to be the examples that would make that happen.

Where had they gone wrong? Why was Lief the one that was dead?

It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair. _It wasn't fair_. Willem raised his head as he saw a pair of Berkians run in his general direction, trying to get out of range of the fire. Thunder masked the sound as Willem gently set Lief's body on the ground and picked up his sword. He could feel his blood starting to boil in anger at the sight of the two Berkians, alive and whole. Why were _they_ alive and not his _little brother_?

Willem let his anger wash over him and he ran at the Berkians with a wordless scream, allowing his vision to blanket red as he went berserk.

* * *

Astrid couldn't believe what she was seeing, she really couldn't. As Snotlout and the twins harried Merrik, she was free to look over the village. The gusting wind threw ash and smoke into the air and partially marred her sight, but she was still able to see that the Berkians on the ground were dropping their weapons. Kata stood before them and her Berserkers were approaching the Berkians. Stoick was lying on the ground.

"No!" Astrid shouted.

"What are they doing?" Snotlout shouted for her, not even attempting an innuendo.

"They're surrendering," Merrik called out to the duo as he released an arrow.

It sang through the air. Stormfly flapped her wings in a downstroke and the arrow missed Astrid by several inches. Merrik smiled as the arrow flew between the heads of Barf and Belch. The dragon squawked and reared, and Belch ignited Barf's gas too quickly, making it explode in their faces. They were thrown backwards and crashed into a hut, knocking Fishlegs and Meatlug, who had been too close, out of the air with them.

"As I suggest you do," Merrik said calmly, reaching for another arrow.

His fingers touched only air, but he disguised his shock and casually lowered his bow to his lap with a smug smile. He was out of arrows, not that he'd let the Berkians figure it out. Every shot might have landed, but it seemed he'd still had too much fun "whipping arrows" about his opponents ears, as Kata called it.

Crossbow bolts began to fly up from the ground at the riders, and Astrid dove down to provide cover fire for Fishlegs and the twins while Snotlout tackled Merrik. Snotlout unleashed a stream of flame, but Skye easily flew a loop around it. Using her superior agility, she moved behind him and spat a ball of flame, striking Hookfang on his hindquarters. Given that the Monstrous Nightmare usually set himself on fire, the flame had little effect, so Skye slashed at his wings with her talons, tearing a large gash in the membrane.

"Hookfang!" Snotlout screeched as Hookfang began to lose altitude, laboring to keep in the air with only one wing and failing as he spiraled closer to the ground.

Skye looped into the air and dove straight down towards Astrid.

"Astrid!" Fishlegs called out a warning.

Astrid looked over her shoulder and Stormfly jerked to one side, dodging Skye's swooping dive. She had swung her talons forward to strike at Astrid as an owl would a lemming, but now pulled them back. Her feathers allowed her to swerve in the air in front of Stormfly and one of her wings clipped Stormfly's face, every feather on the wing stiffened and sharp as a sword's blade. Stormfly cried in pain as the feathers cut the scales on her face.

Merrik touched the vambrace on his left arm where his throwing needles should be, feeling most of the slots were empty. Of the ten needles that were supposed to be sheathed on the forearm, there were only three. He'd wasted most of his as distractions. Drawing all three needles and holding one between each knuckle, he threw them as Stormfly recoiled from her injury. One clipped Astrid's cheek, another her forearm, and the third striking her in the shoulder just below her shoulder guards.

A flick of Skye's tail sent sharpened feathers flying through the air at the twins. One of the blade-like feathers grazed Barf's neck, drawing blood. Barf and Belch reared up, Barf throwing Ruffnut from the saddle. Tuffnut reached out in an attempt to grab his sister, but he missed her and she fell on top of Meatlug, leaving Fishlegs to catch her. Tuffnut cried out as Barf and Belch shot straight up to evade a net and accompanying crossbow bolts.

Skye sheared to the left to avoid Astrid's axe as the frustrated Berkian chucked it at the archer. Merrik was half-jolted form the saddle. The metal buckle that secured his left leg to the side of the saddle snapped under the stress and he nearly toppled from Skye's back. Sensing his problem, his dragon dropped lower and went into level flight before Merrik fell.

"Retreat!" Astrid shouted at the other riders over a clap of thunder.

They looked at her in befuddlement, so Astrid repeated her command.

"Retreat!" Astrid called out again. "There's no way we can win. Fall back to Base B!"

A few drops of rain began to fall as the Berkians looked hard at each other. They were about to retreat and leave Berk in Berserker hands. If they didn't though, they'd get caught and they couldn't rescue their fellow villages from inside a prison cell. With despairing expressions, the Berkians' dragons scattered, heading off in all directions to meet up at Base B. They paused only long enough for Ruff to jump back to Belch.

Merrik rightened himself in the saddle, running a hand through his hair. The stupid strap had broken and he'd nearly fallen! It just couldn't handle the stress from Skye's high-velocity turns. Perhaps Kata could convince Hiccup to help him with the endeavor, assuming he survived his injuries. From everything he heard, the young Hooligan heir was quite an inventor.

Skye flew back around to take another pass at the dragons only to pause, hovering. She wasn't sure which dragon her human brother wanted her to chase after and she squawked, telling her brother to point out a target. Merrik didn't though. He stroked her side, running his fingers through her feathers.

"Just leave them Skye," Merrik told her. "You might be the most agile dragon, but you won't be fast enough to catch them. We've secured the village. That'll do for now."

Skye clicked twice. She knew they'd be back.

"I know they'll return," Merrik sighed, petting Skye's silken feathers, currently softer then cotton. "But it won't be for some time, and I need to land and replace my arrows."

With a chirp of agreement, Skye angled her wings downward and landed amid a group of Berserker soldiers as the clouds opened and rain began to pour. Kata was standing some distance away, listening as one of her people began to inform her how many Berkians they had captured alive. She had removed her jacket and was inspecting the wound left by Stormfly's spine, blood continuing to flow down her arm in rivulets.

"Kata!" Arin shouted as he ran up to her side.

"Arin," Kata smiled at him, pressing her palm against the wound on her arm to stem the blood loss. "I'm glad you made it through the fight."

"I did yes," Arin nodded, "but Willem's gone berserk. I don't know why."

Kata sighed. "I suppose I better calm him down. Where is he?"

Arin turned and began to lead Kata towards his elder brother. She followed him at a jog, keeping one hand tight on the injury. Willem was near the cliff that overlooked Berk's harbor and Kata caught a glimpse of the Berserker fleet landing on the shores and docks of Berk. There was a crash as a burning hut collapsed under its weight. The rain began to pour in earnest, soaking Kata and plastering her normally fluffy red hair to her skull to make her look even smaller.

"Willem," Kata sighed when she saw him.

He was swinging his sword at three Berserkers that were shouting at him, trying to bring him to his senses as they crouched behind their shields. They were unwilling to strike at Willem and risk killing him.

Kata stalked between the three berserkers and Willem caught sight of her, swinging his sword in her direction. The other berserkers cringed but held their ground when Kata raised a hand, motioning for them to remain. While they had learned to trust her judgement, they weren't too sure about this.

"Knock it off Willem!" Kata ordered sharply and fiercely. "You're scaring your brother!"

Willem's sword came down, but stopped a centimeter from Kata's cleaving her forehead. His eyes, dazed and bloodshot, slowly focused on her and he blinked.

"Kata?" He whispered.

"Obviously," Kata rolled her eyes.

He lowered his sword to his side and one of the other berserkers snatched it from him. The adrenaline from his berserk state began to wane and exhaustion crept in. Various wounds lacerated his body and as he returned to normal, he began to feel the pain again. Wrung out, he allowed two of the other berserkers to support him.

"How did you know that would stop him?" Arin asked, sidling up to Kata. "He can be hard to calm."

Kata gave him a sharp, knife-like smile. "I've seen Dagur do the same thing before. You just have to make sure you don't flinch."

"Willem," one of the berserkers holding him asked, "what set you off?"

Willem bit his lip and hung his head. Slowly, he raised his head and looked over at the cliff. Curiously, Kata, Arin, and the others present followed his gaze. Horror clouded Kata's features as her triumphant smile faded. Arin gave a cry and ran forward, while Willem's leg gave and the berserkers had to catch him. There was a boy's body, a boy with white hair.

Arin slid to the ground beside the body and cried out. "Lief, Lief, no. Wake up little brother! Wake up. We've won. Berk is ours."

But Lief did not stir, even as tears slid down Arin's cheeks and his voice dissolved into choking, racking sobs. Kata stood there, unable to look away from Lief's inert form. No wonder Willem had gone berserk.

"Lief," she whispered, voice cracking as she said the boy's name.

Lief, Loki's god-touched champion, was dead?

"Wake up," Arin sobbed. "We've won! Wake up little brother, we've won. _We've won_ …"

* * *

 **Kata's won this wound, but it's a pity the price had to be Lief's life. Indeed, it may yet be in vain since Berk's rider have escaped. She may not have long to savor her victory.**


	31. What Comes Next

The storm's deluge had worn itself out by mid-afternoon, and the heavy clouds had even parted enough to allow a few rays of sunlight to touch Berk's bloodstained soil. Vorg stood in a position where he could overlook much of the village, pleased at the sight of the decimation. Whatever Kata's motives, it felt good to be in the battlefield and to win.

The rain had extinguished the fires, allowing the berserkers to search the ruins for the bodies of comrades and those who may yet be alive. Behind Vorg was Berk's Great Hall, the place where the surviving Berkians had been shuffled into. Supplies had been left for them and Merrik had raided the stores of Berk's healer, Gothi, with Skye's help. The supplies were of great use to Jodi, who had set up an infirmary on the pirate's huge former flagship, recently nicknamed _Nemesis_.

Vorg turned away from his view and began to walk towards what had once been the hut of Berk's chief. The hut had become Kata's base of operations, what with the Great Hall full of prisoners and _Nemesis_ serving as an infirmary there hadn't been much of a choice. Skye was sitting outside the hut, preening her red and black feathers. She paused and glanced at him briefly before resuming her preening. Two Berserkers were standing guard near the hut where their young chief was.

Vorg could hear voices inside the hut and knocked before entering. Kata was on the first floor, behind what had likely been a dining table. A fire burned in the pit in the floor and Trick was lying next to the flame, warming himself. Merrik stood across from Kata. She was looking down, writing something. He was relieved to see that her arm had been bandaged and was in a sling.

"Skye can't keep doing everything by herself," Merrik was telling the chief. "She dislocated her wing while we were rescuing Dagur. I don't even know how she made it through the fight. She shouldn't be flying. We need more riders. I can't be the only one-"

"You're right," Kata said.

"-to fly," Merrik continued without noticing Kata's agreement. "Surely Skye proved her usefulness during the fight. Imagine if I had a whole squad to command…"

His voice trailed off as he finally realized Kata had agreed with him. Blinking, he looked at her. Kata had still not raised her head from her paper and paused writing only long enough to dip the quill back into the inkwell.

"I'm right?" Merrik said blankly.

"Yes," Kata told him. "You can train a squad of dragon riders."

"Just like that," Merrik frowned mistrustfully. He'd been expecting more of a fight.

"Just like that," Kata repeated, "but wait until we return to Berserk. It's probably better we ride Berserk native dragons, rather than ones whose homes are Berk."

"Um okay," Merrik rubbed the back of his head. "I'm kind of surprised you're agreeing so easily."

Kata stopped writing and smiled at him, "surprise."

"Very funny," Merrik sighed, his voice thoughtful as he began to think how to train more riders.

"Have you finished reading Berk's Book of Dragons?" Kata asked.

"Hardly," Merrik scowled. "It'll take me a few days to read it all, and someone's found a chest full of more notes on dragons. They were written by someone named Bork, I think. I may have an eidetic memory, but I don't read all that fast."

"You'll have plenty of time to read," Kata told him. She paused and then looked around Merrik, seeing Vorg for the first time. "Uncle? I didn't know you were here."

"I guessed as much," Vorg told her.

She smiled somewhat shyly, tapping her cheek with the feather quill. "Is it urgent?"

"Just a status report," Vorg assured her.

"I think we're done anyway," Merrik said, "but I'm going to have to think about my curriculum."

Kata shot him a glare. "You've been thinking of a curriculum to train new riders since you returned from Outcast. Don't try to tell me you haven't already planned it out."

Merrik gave her a smug smile and left with a wave. Kata shook her head as her sole dragon rider went outside.

"One of these days I'm going to strangle him," she muttered to herself.

"Kata," Vorg addressed his niece cautiously, "is it wise to have more dragons?"

"The idea of having air superiority is appealing," Kata pointed out. "We just have to make sure we don't get soft as Berk did. They made their dragons their only line of defense. We'll just have Merrik and his squad be the first."

Vorg nodded, trusting Kata's judgement. "Any word on Dagur?"

Kata set the quill down, resting her chin in her palm. "Jodi's done all she can. It's up to him now."

Jodi had emphasized how hard it had been to stabilize Dagur, trying not to let Kata's hopes get too high. Kata couldn't let go of her hope though. She refused to.

"Hiccup should survive," Kata continued, "and both he and Toothless are locked in cells on _Nemesis_."

"What do you intend to do with him, and his kin?" Vorg asked.

Kata smiled again. "That's the real question you wanted to know, isn't it? Why did I rescind my orders of no survivors and suddenly tell you to take prisoners? Why don't you give me the report first?"

Vorg agreed by relaying what news he had. "We have all the Berkians we know about in the Great Hall, but that leaves all the ones that escaped – including their riders. I think most of those who were going to die from their injuries have already done so."

"Good," Kata nodded, "I was hoping there'd be plenty of survivors. We'll get more gold."

"Gold?" Vorg repeated, walking around the fireplace to stand across from her. "What do you mean gold?"

"The letter I've been writing," Kata explained, tapping on the sheet of parchment. "It's addressed to the Lava Louts."

It took approximately half a second for Vorg to respond. " _What_? The slavers! Are you _crazy_?"

"That's a funny question to ask a berserker," Kata chuckled to herself.

The Lava Louts were a tribe who lived to the south east of Berk, one of the few to reside on a small island chain instead of a single island. Their home territory was comprised of about a dozen islands close enough to each other to be seen from shore to shore. The largest island had a semi-active volcano on it, and earthquakes were common in their area. Because of the volcanic activity, their island had a plethora of everything from diamonds and gold to sapphires and the occasional rubies. They even had pearls in their reefs, which could produce everything from the common white to black and most colors in between.

While pearl diving was a popular hobby of theirs, mining for the gems and gold was a more hazardous occupation. Miners had a short life expectancy, forcing their tribe to become proficient slavers so they could buy or otherwise kidnap the workers they needed to mine their wealth. They were one of the wealthiest tribes in the archipelago, but their habit of reaping the wealth over the bones of slaves had made them few friends.

"The Lava Louts are businessmen first and foremost," Kata reminded Vorg, "and I expect all of these Berkians will heft quite the haul of gold. Wouldn't you say?"

Vorg hesitated, stunned that Kata would turn the Berkians over to the Lava Louts.

"Besides," Kata added as she dipped the quill in the inkwell and resumed writing her letter, "I think this is much more fitting. Killing them would end them instantly. This way, the Lava Louts will slowly work them to death. Most of their miners are lucky to live five years. Those who end up as gladiators in their coliseum have even shorter life expectancies."

Vorg swallowed as Kata chuckled. The Lava Louts weren't afraid to pay handsomely for good slaves, and Berserk would profit from selling the Berkians to them, but to sell an entire tribe to them? He didn't say anything however. It was Kata's choice. She was the one who had defeated Berk. What would he say if his nephew died? He'd suggest the same thing on Kata's mind. A quick execution was too good for Berk, and Berserk wouldn't get paid if that happened.

"That's why you gave the Berkians the antidote to save Stoick," Vorg sighed, having wondering why Kata had done that. "You want him to survive."

Kata nodded. "Stoick's a skilled fighter with a good reputation. The Lava Louts will pay for the chance to put him in their coliseum."

The Lava Louts probably would at that, but Kata would be lucky if the slavers didn't also try to take advantage of the situation and enslave the Berserkers. Vorg knew they'd tried once before, decades ago when he had been a boy.

"Tell the Berserkers to try not to kill any dragons," Kata continued, not noticing her uncle's troubled expression. "The Lava Louts will pay for pre-trained dragons."

"What about their riders?" Vorg noticed what she had left out.

"Kill them," Kata shrugged. "I don't want the Lava Louts to learn how to train dragons anytime soon."

She signed her name at the bottom of the paper and sprinkled sand across the page to help it dry.

"How are the brothers doing?" Kata asked softly as he closed the inkwell.

Vorg looked away. She didn't need to emphasize which brothers she was talking about. He knew it was Willem and Arin.

"As well as to be expected given their sibling was shot in the back," Vorg sighed. "They mourn him, as we mourn all our dead."

"I should never have let Lief come," Kata said resolutely. "God-touched or not, he was a child. I should have insisted he stay home."

"You're a child to Kata," Vorg pointed out. "You are not yet thirteen."

"I'm also in chief until my brother recovers enough to take over," Kata retorted, gently brushing the sand off the dried ink.

Picking up the two pages, she stood and folded them together, stuffing them into her jacket pocket.

"I suppose I'll have to wait for Merrik to return to give him the letter," she sighed as she started to stretch. "Is that all you have to report Vorg?"

"Funeral services for our people will be starting at sundown," Vorg reminded her.

Kata's eyes darkened at the unpleasant thought. After battle, all that remained after dealing with surviving enemies was the funerals. She hated it, but took solace in the fact that Berk casualties outnumbered her own.

"I'll be there."

* * *

Astrid dismounted from Stormfly in a rushed move, running to the front of her dragon to check the wound on her face. Her Deadly Nadder had closed her injured eye, and blood ran over her scales. She felt her fury bubble.

Kata had betrayed them! And that white-haired boy had… had… Astrid still couldn't believe what he had done. Hiccup and Toothless might or might not be dead, but were most certainly in the Berserker's custody.

Around her, the other dragon riders landed and began looking at their injured dragon. Astrid looked at her right shoulder where Merrik's needle was embedded and wrapped her fingers around the senbon, then yanked it out in one sharp movement, gasping in pain. Blood began to weep from the wound and she pressed her hand against the injury.

Rubbing the needle with her finger, she recognized the texture as a Deadly Nadder's spine. Astrid made a frustrated noise in her throat as she realized the needle had been carved from a spine. The poison was evidently still in play as Astrid's right arm was numb all the way to the tips of her fingers. It would wear off in a few hours.

"Is everyone here?" Astrid demanded.

One by one, the twins, Fishlegs, and Snotlout all called agreement. Astrid exhaled in relief. There was that at least.

The battleworn dragon riders were currently in the Cove, the large sunken area in Berk's forest where Toothless had crashed when Hiccup had first shot him down. There was water and fish in the lake, which was what had made it their fallback base if they could not go to the Arena.

"Gather supplies and check your dragons," Astrid ordered the other riders as she removed her hand from the wound to test that it had stopped bleeding.

"Hey," Snotlout interrupted, "what about the Berserkers? What are we going to do about _them_?"

"Nothing right now," Astrid told him. "Hookfang can't even fly straight with his wing torn. After we recover, then we can do something."

After checking that Stormfly's eye wasn't injured, she nudged Stormfly towards the lake to let her drink. She approached Fishlegs as Meatlug began to snack on a boulder.

"How is she?" She asked him.

"She's just tired," Fishlegs assured her. "I guess we got lucky. How's Stormfly?"

"I don't know how her eye is," Astrid admitted. "Fishlegs, do you have some ink and paper?"

Her question was a safe bet and sure enough, Fishlegs had some in his saddlebag. Astrid took it and set it on the ground, writing on it. Writing with her left hand instead of her right was a little difficult, but she was fairly ambidextrous.

"Who are you writing to?" Fishlegs asked.

"We're going to need help to retake Berk," Astrid told him. "Merrik's dragon may not be the fastest, but she is too agile to hit, and Merrik's still able to make all his arrows land."

She remembered their first encounter with the archer. He hadn't been wearing his vest inscribed with the Berserker's crest, and he had smoothly shot Toothless in the side with an arrow, plunging him and Hiccup into the ocean. Hiccup had nearly drowned. They no longer had Toothless either, the only dragon who might be able to match Skye.

"I need a Terrible Terror to send the message," Astrid told him, "find me one."

"You're calling for reinforcements?" Fishlegs said blankly. "From where?"

* * *

Váli and Nari sat around a table in Éljúdnir, speaking with their elder sister as she treated them to a meal. The table was laden with food, ale, meat, and a delicious vegetable stew, all of which was from Valhalla's kitchen. Hela ate little, but she had never had much of an appetite. Her magic was able to sustain her lifeforce with little help.

"So," Hela said, taking a bite out of a strawberry. "Odin's sending you two to do his dirty work. That sounds like him."

Váli had told Hela the story he'd assured Nari he would: that Odin wanted to know the name of the Valkyrie who had told Lief Dagur still lived. Since he knew the brothers got along with their sister, they had been sent to get the information.

Váli nodded as he bit into a rib, tearing off a piece of the meat. Nari ate a little more delicately then his brother, but neither could stop themselves. Valhalla's food was the best in the realms, and it was rare for the living to be treated with it.

"Yeah," Váli said as he swallowed his mouthful. "We don't want to get in trouble with him, which is why we asked to see you."

"I see," Hela said as she set the stem of the strawberry on a mostly empty plate and picked up a chalice full with sweet ale. "Then it wouldn't have anything to do with the fact Loki is in the dungeon again?"

Váli froze and shyly raised his light purple eyes to his sister. Hela's hair had fallen over her right eye, exposing the milky blue left one as she glared at him. Nari rolled his eyes.

"I may live on Niflheim, but I that does not mean I am out of the loop," Hela reminded Váli in a chilling tone. "Most of Odin's Valkyries are loyal to me, and they keep me informed of events. I'm aware of what just happened with Iðunn and Thjazi. Could it be you came to learn the Valkyrie's name in order to trade that information for your father's release?"

"Loki's your father to, _sister_ ," Váli retorted.

"Don't remind me," Hela muttered, brushing her luxurious black hair behind her ear.

Váli looked at Nari, but his younger brother merely smiled, amusement glittering within his green irises.

"Don't look at me," Nari cautioned Váli. "I told you Hela would see through your lie. You're not good at this."

Hela raised her left eyebrow when Nari said 'lie', but Váli suddenly found his food very interesting to look at. Nari turned to his elder sister.

"If we don't find father's name, I fear Odin will never free him," Nari appealed to her. "He's truly furious that the gods almost lost Iðunn's apples of immortality. This isn't like the time father cut off Sif's hair."

"She had it coming, spoiled chit," Váli muttered under his breath. "She'd always look down her nose at the rest of us, preening over her precious hair and never letting us forget the fact that ours was not as fine as hers."

"I admit Sif deserved what she got," Hela supposed, being a person who never judged someone based on appearance and hated those who did. "This is different. You want me to endanger one of _my_ Valkyries for Loki."

"Technically they're _Odin's_ Valkyries," Nari corrected. "Brynhildr and some of the others just look up to you more because you rule the dead, a realm Odin cannot control."

"They take orders from _me_ ," Hela pointed out. "The point that Odin originally them is moot, as you know. They are mine now."

Nari looked away from the conversation abruptly, tilting his head as he listened. Hela to, let the conversation drift off. Váli looked between the two and then shifted the human-like ears on the side of the head so they looked like black-furred wolf ears. His ears rotated towards the source of the sound, allowing him to hear wingbeats, feathery wingbeats from a large creature.

His ears shifted back to their normal shape as the shadow of a Valkyrie fell upon them and one of the women flew in through an open window. She landed briefly on the windowsill, but upon seeing Hela jumped down to the ground. She fell slower then was natural, extending her wings to create drag.

"Milady," the Valkyrie greeted Hela, "we have a problem – two actually."

"Can it wait?" Hela asked with a sigh. "I'm speaking with my brothers."

The Valkyrie shook her head no and then tipped her head at the brothers as if an afterthought. This Valkyrie, like all Valkyries the brothers had seen, was in her early to mid-twenties with a feminine figure and would undoubtedly be able to bash an Asgardian around like a ragdoll. Valkyries were the best warriors in the realms, though many did not wish to acknowledge that fact since they were women (and because they worked for Hela, daughter of Loki).

This Valkyrie had mostly straight flame orange-red hair that reached nearly to her shoulders and stormy grey eyes. Her white wings were flecked with glittering copper and bronze specks, and her silver armor, from her shin guards to her winged helm, was polished to a shine. Her clothing beneath was white and silver.

"Hello Brynhildr," Nari greeted her.

Brynhildr was the oldest Valkyrie, the first one created by Odin as well as the strongest of the women. She was also the first of Odin's Valkyries to ally herself with Hela instead of Odin.

"What is it?" Hela asked her, setting her chalice on the table before Brynhildr could return Nari's greeting.

"First, have you seen Sigrún?" Brynhildr put her hands on her hips. "I can't find that rascal."

When Váli and Nari looked confused, Brynhildr emphasized, aware Hela trusted the brothers.

"Sigrún is a new Valkyrie a month old," Brynhildr explained, "one of the ones Hela created herself. I sent her to Midgard and she hasn't been back."

Hela had recently begun to take the souls of pure-hearted women and enhance them into second-generation Valkyries, much as Odin had done to create the first generation of Valkyries.

Hela lowered her head in thought, rubbing the garnet earring in her right ear with her right hand, an old habit of hers. "I don't sense her presence on Niflheim. Is she still on Midgard?"

Brynhildr shook her head. "I've looked for her there."

Hela lowered her hand from the earring and glanced up. "Have the other Valkyries keep a watch for her. I suspect she'll show herself before too long."

"Not worried?" Nari asked his elder half-sister.

Hela shook her head, the black half of her hair swishing with the movement. "Sigrún's been favoring the Berserkers in her bets, likely because so many others aren't. I suspect she's merely gotten a front row seat. If you do see her Brynhildr, kindly escort her back. I'd like to have a word about her neglecting her duties."

Váli winced at her icy tone. He wasn't sure if it would be safer for Sigrún to hide until Hela's anger faded or turn herself in now before Hela began to nurse a grudge.

"Yes milady," Brynhildr bowed, fisting a hand across her heart respectfully.

Sigrún was going to be in so much trouble. Nari understood why neither was worried however. Young through Sigrún might be, she was also a Valkyrie. Not much would pose a threat to her. He knew Valkyries were perfectly capable of thrashing even Asgardians, which made them powerful indeed.

"The second matter?" Hela asked.

Brynhildr's lips twisted into a frown. "We have a soul that refuses to cooperate."

"Oh?" Hela raised her right eyebrow. "Who?"

* * *

 **I suppose I am jumping between scenes, but I'm trying to wrap up Part 2 and there is a lot going on. It fits together though. Remember Sigrun from a few chapters ago? She rescued Merrik and Dagur from the pirate's queen.**


	32. Gift or Curse?

Arin's shriek startled Kata in the aftermath of the funeral for most of the men. While he and Willem had attended the mass funeral, they had retreated to Lief's side shortly afterwards. Lief's special abilities and young age meant he was getting his own funeral. Instead, Kata found herself running towards the sound of Arin alongside Merrik and another Berserker.

She slid to a stop on the muddy ground, nearly slipping and toppling over. The men staggered to a halt behind her at the same time. Arin had collapsed onto the ground in shock and fear, one arm raised between himself and the apparition that had frightened him. Willem had slid into a fighting stance, one hand over his shoulder on the hilt of his sword.

The apparition had sat up and was rubbing his eyes with the back of one hand, white bangs falling over his face.

"Brother," Lief murmured as he looked between Arin and Willem. "What is it? Why did you scream?"

Kata's voice choked in her throat as she tried to speak. Lief winced and rubbed his back where the crossbow bolt had entered and skewered his heart.

"My back hurts," Lief muttered to himself. "What happened?"

Everyone stared at him, too stunned to speak. Lief looked between them as he lowered his hand, confusion clouding his green eyes. Green eyes? Kata realized he did have green eyes now. Instead of having brown eyes with green flecks, they were now green with only a few brown flecks.

"I," Lief frowned. "What happened? No, I… Oh! I remember! I was dealing with those dragon riders and something happened."

"You got shot in the back," Arin said in a thin voice that hinted he was close to fainting.

Willem just stood there, unable to move.

Lief thought about it and then tightened his lips into a hard line, clenching his hand into a fist. One of his eyebrows twitched as he closed his eyes.

"I did," he recalled, voice taunt with anger. "That cowardly brat! I can't wait for Ragnarök. I am so helping Loki kill Odin!"

"Odin?" Kata said, taking a breath to shake off the shock.

"Yeah," Lief promised darkly, his green eyes dark enough to be mistaken as black. "Odin's the one who shot me."

"Odin shot you?" Kata repeated. "How? He was on Berk?"

" _No_ ," Lief shook his head sharply. "It's child's play for him to enchant a crossbow bolt and move it with enough force to stop my heart. See?"

He held out a hand and an arrow from the quiver Merrik had slung over his right shoulder lifted itself from the others and drifted to his hand. It hovered above his open palm. Lief completed the action without any conscious effort, which was something he hadn't been able to do before. Kata remembered seeing him strain when he'd hovered his dagger above his hand back on _Wolfwind_ , his palm shaking slightly. He'd gotten stronger.

"Speaking of killing," Lief added, turning and looking at something to the right of Arin. "Make yourself scarce before I repeat Odin's trick."

Arin slid backwards on his hands, looking to the side of him where Lief was facing. He couldn't see anything, but he knew Lief could see things he couldn't. Lief was certainly staring at something, his unamused features and taut with irritation. He'd never seen his little brother with such an impatient appearance.

Kata thought she saw a flicker of movement beside Arin and stared hard at it, narrowing her eyes. There was someone there. Her breath caught in her chest as she saw the distortion. It was right on the edge of her sight, but she couldn't quite focus on it.

"Leave," Lief ordered. "I'll give you that chance, Valkyrie."

"Valkyrie," Kata whispered, looking at the strange illusion that should be standing beside Arin.

How was she able to see a Valkyrie? Only the dead or dying were supposed to be able to see Valkyries. She hadn't lost _that_ much blood when Stormfly's spine had struck her arm.

"Eh," Merrik said blankly, glancing at her before trying to see her as well.

The Valkyrie who had tried to retrieve Lief' soul took a step back from him, her ice blue streaked wings flared defensively. The boy's aura made her feathers ruffle, like the fur of a cat's tail puffing. It was darkened and cold, a chill that settled into her bones. Her attempt to draw the sword on her side faltered and she found her hand trembling, unable to unclip the hilt from her belt and materialize the blade.

The Valkyrie took another step away from him, feeling her skin crawl as he smiled. He wanted to kill her badly, wanted to feel her blood run through his fingers. She could see it in his eyes, the malice oozing from him like a miasma. It weighed her body down, making her wings fall limp and trail on the ground behind her. This aura… what, what has Loki done to this boy?

Loki was playful, helpful, and malicious by turns. The Valkyrie, like all the other immortals, had thought Loki had enhanced Lief to be helpful to the Berserkers. Now the Valkyrie doubted that was true. He hadn't been helpful at all by touching the boy.

Feeling a second pair of eyes on her, the Valkyrie noticed Kata staring. She stopped moving, stunned. Kata could see her. The human wasn't dead though, nor dying. She remembered that pipsqueak Sigrún saying that the Berserker's healer had sensed her presence. How could a human sense Valkyries? Valkyries were immortal, while humans were anything but. There was a huge gap between their powers.

With a seething look at Lief, a hallow expression given she was trembling, the Valkyrie turned and leapt off Berk's cliff. Her wings snapped out and she skimmed above the waves. Within a few beats, she had vanished into the sky.

Lief's smile grew as the arrow dropped into his palm and he leaned back. "She must be one of the few still loyal to Odin."

Turning, he blinked when he noticed everyone was staring at him. Kata, having seen the distortion of air vanish, lowered her hand from her dagger.

"What?" Lief asked with a brilliant smile, "why is everyone looking at me?"

"You came back from the dead!" Arin blurted out loudly.

Lief jumped at his brother's shout, nearly dropping the arrow.

"Don't shout!" Lief shouted right back. "I'm right here! I can hear you fine!"

Willem let the sword slide back into its scabbard as Merrik clapped a hand to his face. Arin scrambled to his knees and braced himself on his elbows on the top of the table Lief's body had been on, nearly slamming his forearm onto the wood.

"Will you _please_ stop scaring me?" Arin demanded. "That's the second time you've gotten yourself killed!"

The Berserker with Kata made a choking noise and Arin cringed. Slowly, Merrik, Kata, Arin, and Lief all looked up at him. Kata recognized him as Vandil, captain of one of her longships. Vandil was unable to tear his gaze away from Lief.

Kata sighed. She knew it had only been a matter of time before someone found out that Lief had died and been resurrected by one of the gods. They'd done pretty well to hide it for nearly three years.

"Yes, Lief died," Kata sighed, deciding to go for a partial truth. "For whatever reason, the Valkyries don't have much luck taking his soul, so he gets left with it. The shock of his soul returning to his body the first time made his hair turn white prematurely. It seems the Valkyries were unable to take his soul this time either."

The panic in Vandil's expression waned slightly at Kata's explanation. Merrik noticed she had failed to mention Loki's involvement, which might be for the best since not everyone shared her fondness for the trickster god. People would likely think Lief's his supernatural abilities had something to do with the fact he had duped the Valkyries.

Lief smiled at Vandil before holding out the arrow. Merrik took a step forward and reclaimed it, slipping it into the quiver. Vandil was looking between the teenagers as Arin stood and sat beside his brother.

"You kids have known about this since Lief's hair was turned white, haven't you?" He asked tartly.

"Yes," Kata answered for Arin, who was staring intently at Lief. "I suppose it's useless to tell you to keep this quiet."

Willem, who had been silent this entire time, covered the distance between himself and his brothers in two quick steps. He grabbed both Arin and Lief, capturing them in a hug at the same time.

"This is the second time you've gotten yourself killed," Willem told Lief in a rough voice. "You're starting to acquire bad habits."

Lief smiled, not attempting to shrug off his brother. Kata felt herself smile as she turned away. With a motion at Merrik, the two backed away from the brothers, Merrik dragging tugging Vandil's arm. The adult, still stunned, offered no resistance.

Meanwhile, the Valkyrie Lief had chased off was hovering. She was too far away to see the gaggle of Berserkers, even with her enhanced sight. She could still sense Lief's magic, though she knew she was too far away for him to feel her. She should be at least, but she supposed she didn't know anything for certain anymore.

The Valkyrie, Sváva, had her hands fisted against her chest. Loki had enhanced Lief when he resurrected him, stating that he'd been bored and things on Midgard needed to be spiced up. He'd also done so as a favor to Kata, though he never admitted the latter part aloud. That was all anyone believed it was.

Sváva didn't believe that anymore. Lief's power was spilling over and touching the other Berserkers, though whether it was enhancing or infecting them she didn't know. Loki was no fool. He would have banked on this happening. He was _trying_ to lessen the gap between the human Berserkers and the immortals. She remembered her lord, Odin, telling her how Kata had challenged him when he'd hinted he'd locked Loki in the dungeon, demanding to know what she'd done to the trickster.

Imagine, a mortal challenging the Allfather!

* * *

Loki hadn't gifted the Berserkers at all. He was merely using them to get back at Odin. She didn't know what Loki expected to do with humans, but she had best warn Odin of this. Loki was obviously overstepping his boundaries, especially concerning Lief. Exactly what was that boy turning into?

A Valkyrie whose wings were dark russet red with a black undertone twirled a strand of matching colored hair around a finger. She was perched on the edge of a sea stack near Berk, watching the village from afar as her heels kicking against the stone. There was still smoke in the air from the recent fight and fire.

"Any sign of her, Hild?" Another Valkyrie asked as she swooped down and landed beside the first.

The second Valkyrie's wings were a pearly gray, dappled with rose pink.

Hild stopped twirling her lock of hair and answered, "Not that I can see Sigrdrífa."

One of Sigrdrífa's eyebrows twitched as she folded her pearly wings onto her back.

"Oi, Hild," she began darkly. "We're supposed to be looking for Sigrún. What are you doing wat _ching Berk_!"

Hild jumped as Sigrdrífa's voice turned into a shout at the end.

"Hey," Hild whined, blood-black wings ruffling. "I'm just watching my bet. I think Kata'll go through with selling the Berkians to those slavers."

Sigrdrífa massaged one of her temples. "I'm sure that child will, but we're not here for bets. We're looking for our _missing sister_!"

"You're shouting again," Hild complained, wings fluttering in irritation. "Come on, aren't you the least bit curious about that aura?"

"Aura?" Sigrdrífa paused her rant, becoming consciously aware of an aura emanating from Berk.

"It's from Lief," Hild gave a cocky smile, guessing the elder Valkyrie had finally noticed it.

Sigrdrífa took a step back. "Loki's pet? Why would he have such an aura? It sets my teeth on edge."

Hild nodded agreement, looking back over Berk. "Loki's touch was supposed to be a gift, but it feels more like a curse."

Sigrdrífa frowned briefly, not liking the implications. Unlike some Valkyries, she agreed with Hela that Loki was trouble. She crossed her arms over her chest, deciding it didn't matter. These were just mortals after all. It wasn't like they could ever pose a threat to immortals such as themselves.

"Mortal games aside," Sigrdrífa reminded, tapping the fingertips of her left hand against her right arm. "We need to find Sigrún."

"Do we?" Hild asked, raising an eyebrow. "While I agree Sigrún's young and she doesn't have the best stamina, she's still a Valkyrie. I think Brynhildr's overreacting. Sending us out to search for her is one thing, but making sure we stop and look over Midgard? Stars, we're on the world of mortals! What could possibly threaten her here?"

* * *

 **Lief is not stable, as I'm sure you noticed. Compared to how his personality was at the beginning of the story - what you would expect from a sweet nine year old child with a strong affection with his brothers and home, he's now colder and more prideful. He wasn't exactly stable during the battle of Berk.**

 **As for Sigrún, what do you think could threaten a Valkyrie on Midgard?**


	33. New Players

The pirate queen knelt within the hold of her personal ship. She was a foot away from the unconscious form of a teenage girl. The girl had been disarmed, her sword, shield, and silver armor locked away in the queen's quarters.

One of her shadows sulked around the edge of the room, but she shushed him.

"You already took a bite out of it," she reminded the Nightfury brother by her side. "I need her alive for now."

He sulked back and the queen grabbed a fistful of her prisoner's hair, dragging the head upwards. Satisfied that she was still alive, the queen let the girl drop back to the deckboards. The two of them were currently in her flagship, _Crow_. While poor compared to _Nemesis_ , _Crow_ was still twice as large as the average longship, with two decks, two large masks, and a jib sail off the bow.

It was unfortunate she had _Nemesis_ lead the invasion of Berserk and then lost custody of it. The god who'd enhanced her had told her Berserk would be easy prey and altered the currents to make sure _Nemesis_ would arrive at her isle's bay. Yet Berserk was not defenseless, as the Asgardian had believed. Fooling a god was not easy, and she suspected Lief had something to do with skewing the god's senses. As one of Loki's pawns, trickery would come naturally to him.

Drawing the knife hidden in her vambrace, she channeled her lightning to it. Tightening her grip, she slashed across her prisoner's arm. A line of red appeared on her skin and the queen raised her dagger to her lips, licking the blade. She savored the taste of the blood.

"So," she said as she lowered the dagger, letting the tip point to the ground. "Even immortals bleed. Perhaps you aren't truly immortal after all."

The unconscious teenager, her white wings flecked with silver and blue twisted under her, said nothing. The queen didn't expect the young Valkyrie she had dragged back to her boat to talk though. Sigrún, the queen believed her name was, had been so arrogant. After aiding the Berserkers in their escape, she'd turned and challenged her.

The queen chuckled low in her throat as she remembered clashing with the Valkyrie. Her blow had knocked the immortal's shield away as the Valkyrie, having already used what magic she had, cried out. Ah, how she loved the gift the god had given her. Sigrún would have to be kept unconscious until she returned to Pirate's Haven where a proper barrier could be erected. Her current one was only temporary, made to dupe the Valkyries she knew would be searching for their little sister.

The queen licked the remaining traces of the Valkyrie's blood from her knife and sheathed it. She ran her tongue over her lips. Warmth seemed to spread along her limbs as she knelt on the floor of her ship. The immortal Valkyrie's blood was beginning to react to her own mortal body. A normal mortal would perish, their bodies burning away from the power, but not her. She had been enhanced, and she looked forward to seeing how much more the Valkyrie's blood could further enhance her.

Her second Nightfury, which had been lying on _Crow_ 's upper deck, touched her mind. The queen paused as images flowed between her and the orange-eyed dragon. Alvin had approached her ship, aware she had retired to it in the aftermath of Dagur's rescue. He wished to speak to her.

"What a hassle," the queen sighed as she stood, brushing a few strands of her hair behind her ear.

Alvin was one of the more intolerable mortals on Midgard, but she supposed she needed to put up with him. He had ships after all, wave upon wave of red-streaked ships. Until she had a chance to drain the Valkyrie, she would need the massive numbers of the Outcasts.

Standing, the queen walked from the Valkyrie's temporary cell. When the yellow-eyed Nightfury hesitated, eager to lap the Valkyrie's blood once more, she snapped her fingers. Mournfully, he turned and followed the queen. She closed the door once his tail cleared the threshold with a wave of her hand, lightning fluttering over the wooden surface.

No one would be able to approach Sigrún, and no one would know she was here. The pirate queen began to walk towards the staircase that would take her to the ship's deck, wondering what the Valkyries would do when they failed to locate their missing sister.

There was a great deal of tension among the gods right now, and one of the main reasons was the friction between Hela and Odin. Hela was the goddess of the afterlife, but Odin claimed to be the ruler of all the living – including her. Many of Odin's Valkyries, who watched over the slain and brought souls to the afterlife, had begun to side with Hela, seeing her as their true mistress as she ruled the afterlife – not Odin. Odin hated that, and Hela had begun creating her own Valkyries just to spite him, for she hated Odin nearly as much as her father, Loki, did.

The queen could sense from the power in Sigrún's blood that she was among the faction who bore Hela's mark instead of Odin's blessing. What would Hela do then when she found one of _her_ Valkyries missing? Given her relationship with the Allfather, she might just think _he_ was involved in Sigrún's kidnapping.

The queen chuckled under her breath. Hela would never think to look to Midgard, never think the realm of mortals could be a threat to one of her Valkyries. She would likely turn her gaze to her fellow gods… and Asgard.

The pirate queen stepped onto the deck, catching sight of Alvin the Treacherous and his lieutenant Savage. Alvin had a scroll half-crushed in one of his giant hands.

"What is it?" She called out to him as she approached.

"We may have a bit o a problem," Alvin told her, holding out the scroll to her.

The queen took it, taking care not to touch his oafish hand in the process. Unrolling it, she read what it said.

 _"Berk has fallen. We need help to retake it. Kata and her Berserkers have complete control. – Astrid"_

"Berserkers," the queen frowned, surprised by the news. "They hit Berk?"

If anyone would do it, would be them, the queen supposed. They had one who was god-touched as she was. Having the presence of such a person would fill them with confidence, even if Lief was supposedly a non-combatant.

"Aye," Alvin agreed, "and they've 'aptured Hiccup."

"How can you tell?" The queen asked as she passed the note back. "It has no mention of it."

"Hiccup's the leader of those riders," Alvin explained. "He'd be writtin to me if he could. He could be dead."

This was why she had allied herself with Alvin. He knew about current events to the north. "Will you send aid?"

Alvin shrugged, obviously not having decided. He _did_ have a treaty with Berk and he _would_ love the chance to bash Berserkers again, but he didn't like the fact Kata was in charge. She was even crazier than her brother was.

The queen was about to offer the aid of her fleet, seeing as the god who'd enhanced her wanted her to kill Lief and a confrontation with the Berserkers was inevitable. Berk was neutral ground, and the Berserkers wouldn't have the home field advantage. Berk's riders and its imprisoned people would also fight alongside the Outcasts against the Berserkers. This would be a good chance.

 _*No*_ a voice in her mind interrupted her. _*Return to your island.*_

The queen hesitated as she heard the voice, recognizing it as the immortal that had bestowed her power upon her. She was surprised by the order, given that this would be the perfect chance to hit the Berserkers. She also knew that she wasn't yet in a position where she could countermand orders from her immortal sponsor.

"Hmph," the queen smiled, masking her irritation at being ordered around like a pawn. "Well, I wish you luck, whatever you decide to do."

"You aren't helping?" Alvin frowned.

"No," the queen assured him. "In exchange for the gold we steal, you give us more ships and weapons. We've finished our business. My fleet will be returning home."

Alvin scowled, but she didn't bat an eye. If Alvin was perturbed, that was his problem.

"Now get off my ship," she made a shooing motion at Alvin and Savage. "I have to collect my men and return home before Kata comes here."

"She wouldn't dare," Savage said with bravado.

The queen gave him a flat look, supposing she shouldn't be surprised at his stupidity. "Of course she will. She's out for vengeance."

"Dagur," Alvin agreed.

Surprised that Alvin was smart enough to figure it out, the queen inclined her head, strands of her silky black hair falling over her face. "I doubt he survived, and those two have always been close. After she finishes with Berk, who defeated Dagur, she'll come for Outcast, where you tortured him to death."

"You sound like you know Kata and Dagur," Savage frowned.

"Know thy enemy," the queen shrugged, "now go. If you intend to attack Kata before she comes for you, you'd best hurry. I doubt she'll dally on Berk for long."

Her dragon brothers approached, one sitting on each side of her. The presence of the Nightfuries was sufficient incentive for Alvin and Savage to depart _Crow_. Without wasting another thought on them, the queen began relaying orders, telling her ships to get ready to sail and sending people out to collect pirate stragglers still on Outcast.

She supposed she should be annoyed that she couldn't go to Berk, but she wasn't. There'd be another chance and there _had_ to be a reason why the immortal had prevented her from going there. This way she'd be able to transfer her prisoner to a more permanent cell at Haven with a stronger barrier. The last thing she wanted was to have the other Valkyries find their sister in her company, and she didn't want her immortal to know of her prisoner either. That would spoil all the fun.

Compared to kidnapping a Valkyrie and instigating a civil war in the heavens, this skirmish was boring anyway.

* * *

Kata passed her letter to Merrik, who tucked it into his saddlebag as he swung into Skye's saddle.

"Are you sure it was a good idea for me to let that Terrible Terror go?" He asked her. "I had it in my sights, and Lief did see a letter tied to its leg."

"It's fine," Kata repeated once more, stepping back so she wouldn't be struck by Skye's wings. "I don't doubt that letter was Astrid asking Alvin for help. I want that letter to go through. If he comes to us, we won't have to dig him out of his fort on Outcast to kill him."

"What about the pirate fleet I saw on Outcast?" Merrik pointed out. "They might come as well. What if the fleets attack before I return from giving your letter to the Lava Louts? It's been nearly three days since you gained control of Berk. That's enough time for the messenger dragon to reach Alvin. Or what if Astrid and the other riders attack? You won't have a rider to help you."

"Three days _might_ be just enough time for the Terror and its letter to reach Outcast," Kata reminded Merrik. "It will take a fleet of ships, especially one as large as what you described, _time_ to set sail and arrive here. You'll be back with time to spare as long as you don't dawdle. As for Astrid and her riders, I doubt they'll risk Hiccup and Toothless's lives by launching an attack they don't think they can win. They'll wait for reinforcements from Outcast. As long as you hurry back you shouldn't miss the fun."

Merrik gave a bark of laughter at her definition of "fun" as he stroked Skye's neck. She spread her wings and Kata took another few steps back as the dragon launched herself into the air. Kata watched as Skye took a southeasterly heading for the Lava Louts' isles.

"Kata!" Jodi's voice cried out behind her.

Hearing the urgency in her tone, Kata turned towards her. "What is it?"

Jodi was running towards her, not carrying her satchel this time. Panting, she came to a stop. It looked like she had run across Berk.

"It's Dagur!" Jodi told Kata, grabbing the sleeve of Kata's jacket. "You have to come, now!"

Panic quickened Kata's pulse. "Is he alright?"

"He's fine," Jodi smiled, "better then fine actually. He's regained consciousness!"

Kata inhaled sharply, feeling a smile growing. "He's-"

Jodi nodded. "He's not lucid, but he is conscious."

"You said he wouldn't wake up until he was stabilized," Kata let Jodi start to drag her back to Nemesis, "but if he did wake up that he'd probably be fine."

Jodi flashed a smile, as thrilled as Kata. Kata quickened her pace, jogging alongside Jodi while Trick flew overhead. This was much better news then having learned Hiccup and Toothless would survive. Her brother would be all right! Dagur would be all right! Wait until she told him what she'd been doing!

* * *

Odin walked across the stone courtyard that led from his palace to the dungeon, hand clenched around Gungnir's shaft. Sváva, one of the Valkyries who had not betrayed him in favor of Loki's daughter, had told him about her inability to touch Lief's soul. The Allfather wanted answers.

He stopped in his walk as a shadow crossed in front of his path and sat on its hunches, tail swishing across the stones. It was a wolf not much larger than an average wolf with sleek grey fur streaked with black and amber eyes that seemed to shine with an inner light. The eyes were coldly intelligent, more intelligent than an animal's had a right to be.

The wolf tilted his head curiously and then drew his lips back from his white teeth, mimicking a human smile too perfectly. "Out for a stroll, Allfather?"

The wolf's voice seemed to roll over Odin's senses, deep and rich. Odin frowned.

"Fenrir," he greeted one of Loki's inhuman children. "I suppose I am."

"What has my father done now?" The wolf chuckled to himself, seeing through Odin with ease. "You look as if you wish to strangle something."

His laughter was a low rumble, his eyes alight with mirth. Odin did not return the laugh, which only made Fenrir's smile grow. Loki, Odin knew, was malicious, playful, and helpful by turns. As much trouble as he caused, he was capable of helping, such as his willingness to rescue Iðunn from Thjazi given it was his fault she had been kidnapped. Fenrir lacked Loki's mischievousness and occasionally helpful nature. All he had was malice. He took great pleasure in using his silken voice to sow discord, far more than his father did.

"Well," Fenrir stood. "My father is usually in some sort of trouble. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised at this point. By the way, have you seen Váli and Nari? I can sense my brothers are no longer on Asgard. I don't suppose you have anything to do with their absence, hmm? You always _are_ selfish, putting your agenda before everyone else's, especially my family and I."

"Step aside," Odin ordered the wolf.

"But of course, _mighty_ Allfather," Fenrir curled his black lips in a sneer as he walked to the side of the path, his large paws crushing leaves underfoot soundlessly.

The Allfather walked past him without a word, but kept a tight grip on Gungnir. He half expected Fenrir to leap at him and was braced for it, having seen how strong the wolf's bite was. Fenrir did nothing but watch him pass, his cold eyes chilling the Allfather's blood as their gaze bore into his back.

Odin took a breath once he entered the dungeons, steadying himself. Fenrir was becoming more audacious every day. Something would have to be done about him, and soon. Placing the thoughts of Loki's arguably most dangerous child aside, Odin began to walk through the dungeon.

The floor was of white stones with gentle white light pouring from the stone ceiling. Cells lined either side of the hallway, each room empty and illuminated via the ceiling by brilliant white light that never dimmed. The walls were made of barriers of golden energy that rippled and sparkled.

Various members of his army were posted at intervals along the walls, walking and patrolling. Each saluted and bowed to him, stepping aside to let him pass. The various realmers imprisoned within the cells of Asgard's dungeon sat or stood in various positions. Some were men, some were women, some were warriors, some were mages, some were nobles, and some were servants or commoners. Many glared at him as he passed, but Odin paid them no mind.

He stopped in front of a cell with a single inhabitant. The inhabitant was leaning against the back wall, facing the hallway with his hands folded in his lap and his eyes closed. It was a younger man dressed in black and green, and he looked wholly unperturbed by his situation. Likely he was used to it.

"You've come to visit me," the inmate said, a smile reminiscent of Fenrir's curling his lips. "I suppose I should be honored that the mighty Allfather would take time from his busy dictatorship to visit the lowly _prince of Jötunnheim_."

He opened his eyes as he said the last three words, revealing lazy emerald-black irises. There was no concern in his appearance. Odin ignored his gibe.

"What did you did you do, Loki?" Odin ordered.

"Do?" Loki asked innocently, not batting an eye at Odin's irked tone.

Odin calmed himself. Loki thrived off chaos and strife. He'd only find amusement in Odin's distress.

"That human you enhanced, Lief," Odin took a step closer to the golden barrier. "What exactly did you do to him?"

"Meaning?" Loki asked, still in an innocent tone.

"The Valkyries cannot take his soul," Odin emphasized, "as I'm sure you're aware."

"I know you tried to kill him," Loki pointed out in a slightly tart tone. "What's the matter, Allfather? Feeling threatened by a mortal child?"

He nearly purred as he spoke the last question.

"How did you stop the Valkyries?" Odin asked, not rising to the bait.

Loki sighed, a little put out that Odin wouldn't play along. "What makes you think I did anything? I can't use mine magic while confined to this cell, as you know."

He raised one hand and dark green lightning flickered weakly across the surface of his skin before sizzling out of existence. Loki sighed again as he lowered his hand back to his lap. Separated from his magic, he always felt so lethargic.

"How did you know Lief died, and that I killed him?" Odin challenged.

Loki raised his eyes and smiled, amused. "You are daft, aren't you? Well, if you haven't figured that out by now, I won't spoil the surprise for you. If you want to entertain yourself, why don't you try to find who enhanced that second god-touched mortal."

The statement took Odin aback. While he had recently realized there was a second mortal who had been enhanced by a god, he had assumed Loki was behind it. Loki's expression was devoid of such knowledge. While he might be behind it anyway, Odin didn't think that was the case. Loki sounded curious about the second god-touched, not smug or arrogant.

If Loki hadn't created the second god-touched, then who else was disobeying him? Váli and Nari didn't have the power, and he doubted Hela would do anything to help her father. Perhaps he'd learn more after Loki's humanoid sons returned with the Valkyrie who had revealed Dagur's survival.

Odin walked away without a word, leaving Loki to shrug and settle back down to doze. He paused as he made it back aboveground, expression suddenly thoughtful. For the first time in a very long time, events on Midgard were now affecting Asgard. For the realm of the mortals to affect the gods… Odin shook his was wrong.

* * *

 **Here ends _Part 2: Bloodshed_. The new players mentioned in the title were Fenrir and the pirate queen's sponsor, and the pirate queen herself to some extent. You may not have taken her seriously before, but she is a threat who's hidden the fact she's caught a Valkyrie from the Aesir who helped her. **

**How do you like the story so far? I decided to make the Nordic gods characters in the story because these are vikings and vikings worship the gods. Why shouldn't the gods answer? Do you like my take on it? There will be more chapters from the POV of Dagur, Hiccup, and Astrid coming up soon as everything falls apart in _Part 3: Treachery_.**


	34. PART 2: BLOODSHED summary

Kata and her fleet of Berserkers head for Berk, intent on eliminating the Berkians and Outcasts for their part in Dagur's defeat. While she pretends she's interested in renewing peace with Berk, part of her fleet and her dragon rider head to Outcast to rescue Dagur, a Valkyrie named Sigrún having revealed he still lived. Under the flag of truce, Kata entered Berk's harbor and gained the trust of Stoick and Hiccup, using the fact that she and Hiccup had been friends as children to assuage their fears.

Back on Berserk, Ingrid, the captured pirate, tells her captors a little bit about her queen. While there are many rumors about the pirate queen, the most common was that she died and returned with new power – like Lief. She, her real name unknown, was quite… efficient. She killed the leaders of the various factions of pirates and united them all under her rule. Shortly after that, she became the guardian of a pair of Nightfury brothers. The brothers are reported to be her shadows, obeying their queen's every call. They are quite bloodthirsty, having developed a taste for human flesh instead of fish and they even killed their sister, tearing her wings off.

The half of the Berserker fleet reaches Outcast, and Merrik and Skye leave to break Dagur out. While scouting the island, he is startled to find a second pirate fleet (the first destroyed in Part 1) in the Outcast's bay, leading him to conclude there is an alliance between them. He rescues Dagur, but is ambushed on his way back to his ship by the pirate queen's Nightfuries. Merrik is pulled out of the saddle by one of the brothers, fatally wounded as its talons pierce his chest.

When the scene cuts back in, the pirate queen is kneeling over Merrik's body as his heart slows, irked that Dagur and Skye escaped. She steps back to allow the Nightfury brothers to eat Merrik, but they are interrupted when the Valkyrie Sigrún appears and uses her power over death to stabilize Merrik. She teleports him back to the Berserker's ship with her magic, figuring Kata will need his help if she wants to win – and if Sigrún wants to win the bets she made.

Sigrún labels the furious queen as a god-touched like Lief and is promptly attacked by the queen's Nightfuries. The very young Valkyrie defeats them, although she uses up her magic during the fight. Frustrated by the "demi-human" affair Loki started she and the queen begin to fight directly. Merrik rematerializes on the deck of the Berserker's ship, startling everyone except Jodi, who was used to immortal interference, and she issues orders to have Merrik and Dagur moved below deck so she can tend to them. The Berserkers at Outcast sail Berk to join Kata in her attack, while on Asgard, Loki hums a song about how "the crown will be mine."

On Asgard, Váli and Nari Lokison walk across Asgard, heading to Niflheim per Odin's orders – they find the name of the Valkyrie who told the mortals Dagur still lived and he will release Loki from the dungeon. Their trek is interrupted when Thor and his favored sons, Magni and Modi, walk by, and Nari turns he and his brother invisible to avoid a confrontation. The pairs of brothers hate each other, partially because of an incident some years ago involving Váli shapeshifting into a wolf during a fight with Magni. Thor, thinking Váli was a real wolf, had attacked him with Mjölnir. Things had gone downhill from there. During the brothers' walk, there are hints of civil unrest on the supposedly peaceful Asgard.

The Berserkers from Outcast arrive at Berk and Kata begins her attack. She taunts Stoick for being gullible enough to believe she forgave him for what he did to her brother as Merrik clashes once more with Berk's riders overhead. During a brief skirmish with Stoick, Kata scratches his hand with a poisoned knife. Lief waits on the cliff's edge while Merrik lures Berk's dragons to him. He's the key to her attack. Using the abilities Loki gave him, he will telepathically force the dragons to submit to him, a tactic also seen in Bewilderbeasts.

He forces the dragons to land against their will and orders the riders to dismount. His compulsion forces them to carry out these actions without hesitation, leaving Merrik free to provide air support for the Berserkers. Lief uses the magic to halt two crossbow bolts shot at him. He idly complains to the riders that killing is boring for him now that he has power, but the terror in their eyes as they realize they are powerless makes it worthwhile. The riders are troubled by this side of his personality and Lief levitates one of the crossbow bolts, intending to kill Toothless, as Kata's orders were only to take Hiccup alive. To his shock, Hiccup jumps in front of the bolt and takes the hit for Toothless, making him crumple to the ground. Merrik, having returned, scolds him briefly for hurting Hiccup before kidnapping the Berkian and taking him back to the fleet. An unconscious Toothless is left on the cliff.

Lief levitates multiple pieces of shrapnel from a destroyed hut, intending to hurtle them at the riders and their dragons and kill them with one blow. He stops just before he does so, saying, "oh you brat," before collapsing. The second crossbow bolt has skewered him through the heart, killing him and freeing the enthralled Berkians. While Astrid is left puzzled by who fired the shot at Lief, she orders the riders into the air to begin a counterattack that was not supposed to happen. On Asgard, Odin, having remotely moved the crossbow bolt to kill Lief, observes a now quiet Loki. In his eyes, Loki had been allowed too much free rein. The death of his human champion was meant to remind him of his place.

Kata, watching the battle from a rooftop, is stunned to see Berk's riders and wonders what happened to Lief. Astrid has Stormfly launch a volley of spineshots, one of which impales Kata's arm to the roof as she attempts to dodge. She vows to return the favor as she returns to the ground, struggling with the poison. A pair of Berserkers lead her to where Stoick is and Kata assures him Hiccup is in her custody and she will kill him if he doesn't surrender. Knowing Kata will kill them all anyway and that Hiccup is likely already dead, Stoick refuses, but collapses seconds later as the poison she inflicted him with earlier takes effect.

Kata smugly states she learned from Dagur to always have a backup plan and tells Gobber to surrender or she will let the poison kill Stoick. He hesitates and she draws the poisoned knife, nearly dropping it as her hand is numb because of the spine's poison. Loki intervenes and touches her injured arm, purifying the poison. Realizing her god is with her, she states she'll fight with the knife and see how many Berkians she can scratch – a scratch is all she needs.

Overhead, Astrid sees the Berkians surrender and the Berserkers begin to provide ground support to Merrik – who is systematically downing the dragons, one by one. She is forced to call a retreat, knowing that if they are captured there will be no one to fight back. Willem finds Lief's body on the cliff and believes a cowardly Berkian has shot his nine-year-old brother in the back, prompting him to go berserk until Kata snaps him out and learns to her horror that Leif has been killed. Arin collapses by his brother's side, begging Lief to wake up, saying "we've won."

Later that day, the prisoners are being confined in the Great Hall and Kata is speaking with Merrik. She gives him permission to start training his own squad of dragon riders when they return home and mentions Hiccup and Toothless are imprisoned on _Nemesis_ , writing all the time. When Vorg asks why she rescinded her earlier order of no survivors and suddenly had them take prisoners, Kata reveals she's writing a letter to the Lava Louts. Vorg is stunned as they are a slaver tribe, and Kata states she's going to sell the Berkians to them. The Berserkers will earn a tidy profit, and the Berkians will slowly be worked to death in the Lava Lout's mines, a far more fitting punishment then quickly executing them. Vorg fears the Lava Louts might try to enslave the Berserkers as well, but doesn't countermand her.

Astrid and the other Riders make it to the Cove, their fall back spot as they can't go to the arena. Their dragons are injured, but everyone is alive. She intends to send a message to Outcast, as Alvin is the only ally who might help them.

Now on Niflheim, Váli and Nari chat with their older sister Hela. She is reluctant to help them once she learns she will have to give up one of her Valkyries to free Loki. The Valkyries began as Odin's warriors, but many have recently begun giving Hela their oaths of loyalty. They claim Hela is the Goddess of the Underworld and they serve the dead – Odin is of the living and all living eventually die and become Hela's subjects. Odin has lost control of 2/3 of his Valkyries and the Einherjar, the deceased warriors of Valhalla to her, giving her the most powerful army in the realms. It is supposed to be Odin's army and since Hela is a daughter of Loki, Odin does not trust her. Friction between them has been steadily growing.

Brynhildr, leader of the Valkyries and the first to defect to Hela, interrupts them and cites that Sigrún, a Valkyrie of Hela's faction, has gone missing. Hela isn't worried since nothing much can threaten a Valkyrie, even one as young as her. She admits to the brothers Sigrún is likely the Valkyrie who revealed Dagur's survival. Brynhildr also tells her a soul is refusing to let the Valkyries take it away.

Lief reawakens on Earth, and remembers he died _again_. Blaming Odin, he tells Kata and his brothers the Allfather manipulated the crossbow bolt and calls him a brat. Lief effortlessly levitates one of Merrik's arrows to prove that Odin could have remotely killed him. Kata remembers that he strained to lift objects before his second death. She notices his eyes, which were once brown with green flecks, are now primarily green from Loki's magic. He abruptly threatens a nearby Valkyrie of Odin's to leave. The Valkyrie compares his aura to "malice oozing like a miasma." Both Kata and the Valkyrie are stunned she can see the immortal, as a mortal like her should not be able to. Fearing that Loki's tampering is beginning to blur the line between mortal and immortal, and fearing what Lief is turning into, she goes to report to Odin.

A pair of Valkyries on Midgard search for Sigrún, who is still missing. They comment that they can feel Lief's aura despite the great distance, indicating its strength, and wonder if what Loki did to Lief was a gift or a curse. Deciding it isn't their problem, they resume searching for their sister though they doubt she's here as they can't conceive how a mortal could be a threat to immortals like them.

Sigrún's is revealed to be unconscious in the hold of the pirate queen's ship, having been defeated and captured by the demi-human. The queen charges her lightning-affinity power to her knife and cuts Sigrún, proving she can bleed. She licks the immortal's blood off her knife, relishing in the rush of power as her body assimilates the strength of the Valkyrie. The queen has raised a barrier around her ship, preventing the other Valkyries from sensing Sigrún's presence. She knows of the tension between Hela and Odin and believes Hela will blame _him_ for Sigrún's disappearance.

Alvin interrupts her musing, showing her a letter from Astrid asking for help. The queen initially decides to work with Alvin to attack Berk as it will give her ample chance to kill the other god-touched, Lief, but the immortal that enhanced her instead orders her to return to her island. She agrees, playfully warning Alvin that Kata, who is avenging her brother, would soon come for him. Alvin comments that it sounds like the queen knows the Berserker siblings, but the queen denies it and says, "know thy enemy." Her Nightfury brothers encourage Alvin to leave her ship.

The queen returns to her musing, stating this development will allow her to move her prisoner to a more secure cell at her island. She does not want any immortal, even the one who resurrected her, to learn she has a Valkyrie. If they knew, a civil war among the heavens might be averted.

Three days later, Merrik prepares to leave to deliver Kata's letter to the Lava Louts. He mourns Kata didn't let him shoot down the Terrible Terror Astrid was using to deliver her plea for reinforcements, but Kata is betting she's asking Outcast. This way, the Outcasts will come to her and she won't need to dig them out of their fort on Outcast Island to slaughter them. Merrik leaves with Kata's correspondence and Jodi runs up to her, announcing Dagur had regained consciousness and she no longer fears he will die.

Odin, having been told Lief won't stay dead, heads to the dungeon to get answers from Loki. On his way there, Fenrir, Loki's wolf-shaped son, stops and smoothly greets him. While Loki was malicious, playful, and helpful by turns, Fenrir was neither playful nor helpful. He takes great pleasure in using his silken voice to sow discord, more than Loki. Odin tells Fenrir to step aside and mistrustfully walks past him. He fears that Fenrir's audacity was becoming more prominent and that something would have to be done about him.

He reaches Loki's cell and demands to know what Loki did. Loki instead asks if Odin truly felt so threatened by a mortal child he would try to kill him. When he realizes Odin hasn't figured out what's happening he decides not to "spoil the surprise." Instead, he tells Odin to find who enhanced the second god-touched human. Odin had believed Loki was behind both demi-humans, but now rescinds that opinion, upset as it means a second god is disobeying him. His patience wearing thin, he thinks it is wrong for the mortal realm to affect the gods.

 **Next: PART 3: TREACHERY**


	35. Oath-Breaker

**PART 3: TREACHERY**

"Are you sure it's a good idea for you to be here?" Váli cautiously asked the woman walking with him and his brother.

Brynhildr, walking a step in front of Loki's humanoid sons, flashed a smile at Váli. "See if I care what Odin thinks."

Nari snickered. While not all of Hela's Valkyries liked Loki, even fewer approved of Odin.

The three approached Gladsheimr, Odin's golden palace. Váli caught sight of Fenrir lying in a sunbeam, head resting on his front paws. His brother's amber eyes were open, but other than his left ear twitching briefly, he gave no reaction to the sight of a Valkyrie on Asgard.

The Star Guard took a step back when they caught sight of the wings that marked Brynhildr as a Valkyrie, making the brothers exchange another smile. Hela had control over the army of the dead. If she decided to cause trouble there wouldn't be a whole lot Asgard could do, as Asgard knew, and Brynhildr was her second in command. Brynhildr led the boys to Odin's throne.

Odin had noticed the Valkyrie's arrival and was waiting for them on his throne, perturbed she was audacious enough to waltz into his palace and curious why she had. Sváva, her white wings streaked with icy blue, stood near Asgard's throne but walked to stand between Odin and Brynhildr when the latter entered. Brynhildr was loyal to Hela, while Sváva stood with Odin. The valkyries looked at each other mistrustfully, each deeming the other a traitor.

"Brynhildr," Odin greeted, ignoring the stare-off. "I am surprised to see you in my home. Have you at last realized that it is unwise to serve Hela?"

"No," Brynhildr said bluntly, stormy grey eyes flickering to Odin. "I am here for two other tasks."

"And what tasks has Loki's daughter given you?" Odin asked, glancing at Sváva.

Sváva backed up so she stood beside Odin's dais rather than in front of it.

"Sigrún," Brynhildr said, watching him intently.

"Is that name supposed to mean something to me?" Odin asked.

"She is one of the five valkyries Hela has created," Brynhildr continued.

Odin's expression darkened, as Brynhildr expected. Sigrún was the youngest of the five and her power had yet to bloom, which was why Hela was concerned that she had vanished without a trace. Their search, which so far had taken the better part of a week, had yielded nothing. Like Hela, Brynhildr doubted Sigrún could have run into trouble on Midgard, but she did wonder about Odin.

"First," Brynhildr began, carefully watching Odin's reaction in case he _was_ involved in Sigrún's disappearance. "Sigrún will be the valkyrie who told the Berserkers Dagur Oswaldson still lived. Now that you know that, I expect you'll keep your oath to Loki's children and release their father."

Since Sigrún was missing, Hela hadn't seen the problem in revealing who was behind the Berserker's warning. It might shake something loose from Odin.

Odin frowned, and rather than agree, asked, "And the second?"

Brynhildr let it slide for the moment although she could tell Váli and Nari didn't like the change of subject.

"The second thing my lady wishes me to tell you is that Sigrún is missing."

"Missing?" Odin said, sounding surprised.

Sváva straightened, wings fluttering slightly. She seemed just as surprised. Nothing, in her mind, should be able to challenge a valkyrie. Perhaps, she thought, Hela's valkyries were weaker than Odin's. They were certainly less experienced.

"She's been missing for nearly a week now," Brynhildr nodded once briskly. "Hela was wondering if you knew where she was."

Odin narrowed his eye while Sváva bristled, recognizing the hidden accusation. Sváva growled softly, and Brynhildr's eyes slid over to her former sister.

"I don't know where Sigrún is," Odin told her slowly. "I didn't know she was missing."

Brynhildr glared at him, not bothering to hide her mistrust.

"I will tell Hela as much," Brynhildr finally promised him. "I don't know what you intend to do to Sigrún for interfering on Midgard, but I know you will need to find her first. My sisters – my real sisters – and I are continuing to look for her as well."

Sváva snorted in an unlady like manner at the slur that she wasn't one of Brynhildr's real sisters. She considered that a good thing. While she knew Brynhildr and the other defectors weren't truly responsible for betraying Odin, it was still hard for Sváva to grant the sympathy Odin asked her to. Odin had told them it was Hela's silken words and silver tongue, inherited from her father, which caused so many of the valkyries to defect. They were being deceived and they weren't even aware of it. They deserved pity, not prejudice.

While that was true for Brynhildr and the other defectors, Sváva knew that wasn't the case for Sigrún and her four sisters. Even if Odin managed to free the defectors from Hela's thrall, Sigrún and her sisters would never realize Odin was the true leader. They weren't taught to accept that, as Allfather, Odin was ruler of all the realms – _including_ Niflheim.

"Now that that's settled," Nari broke the leery silence that had captured the throne room. "What about father?"

"What about him?" Odin asked.

Nari rolled his eyes, reminding Odin _very_ strongly of Loki.

"You gave us your oath that once we had the identity of the Valkyrie responsible for revealing Dagur's existence you would release Loki," Nari reminded Odin with surprising patience. "Her name is Sigrún. Release our father."

Odin didn't instantly answer, and Nari didn't like it. Neither did Váli, who uttered a relatively quiet deep-throated growl.

"No."

Nari took a step back at Odin's answer and Brynhildr's wings shifted, rising slightly before folding once more onto her back. Even Sváva frowned, glancing up at her liege.

"No?" Váli repeated. " _What_ in stars does ' _no'_ mean?"

"It means _no_ ," Odin repeated. "I will not release Loki from the dungeon."

"Why you lying-" Váli started.

"Váli," Nari hissed.

Váli clamped his jaws shut at his brother's behest, eyes blazing with purple fire. His sharpened canines had grown long enough to reach past his lip and his incisors were now slightly jagged.

"You gave us your word you would release father when we gave you Sigrún's name," Nari reminded Odin, taking a step forward. "Do you now renegade on your oath?"

He spoke just as his father did, in a soothing gentle voice, as if he were reminding Odin he'd accidently left his cloak on the floor instead of leaving his father in his dungeon. It was not accusing. Nothing in it would make Odin's blood heat or convince him he needed to defend himself. Indeed, it was pleasant to listen to as if sheathed in silver. Nari even stood as his father did, with his head held high and shoulders thrown back, fingers laced behind his back.

"I rather doubt that's what you're doing." Nari smiled, looking up at Odin through raven black bangs. "That would make you a nithing."

Even Váli winced at Nari's accusation. This accusation was much more serious than the hint about him kidnapping Sigrún. Oath-breaking and kin-slaying were the two worst crimes that could be committed, especially oath-breaking. To break a sworn oath meant breaking one's word, one's honor. A man without honor was not a man at all. He was a nithing, and nithings did not deserve to draw breath. They had no right to rule over anything, especially not the realms as Allfather.

"Hold your tongue, child," Odin warned in a low, even voice.

"Do you wish me to be silent because my lie insults you, or because the truth stings?" Nari asked in a damningly innocent voice, tilting his head to one side curiously.

Nari was good at pulling off the innocent act because of his youth. Loki would often shapeshift into the form of a child for just that reason.

Váli did not remove his eyes from Odin to glare at his brother, tempting though it was. A nithing was also a coward, and a man accused of being a nithing had the right to challenge the accuser to trial by combat to prove himself. Would Odin take up that trial? His brother was a strong mage for one so young, but to fight Odin? Of course, Váli would help him, which would help even the odds.

"I have not lied," Odin assured Nari, making no motion to accept the challenge. "I gave you my vow that I would release your father once you got my Sigrún's name. I never said when, and you did not force me to give a date."

Nari felt a brief moment of hot anger at Odin's mollifying tone, and then icy despair at his words. Váli finally looked to Nari, but his little brother had his eyes lowered as he recalled the memory. Like all gods, he had a perfect memory and was incapable of forgetting anything. His brother looked at him, expression suddenly distraught. Váli felt his heart sink. Odin wasn't lying.

Brynhildr felt her expression soften at the oversight the boys had made though she tried to hide it. As Loki's sons, they would not accept pity.

Odin gave the boys a gentle smile and spoke in a mollifying tone. "You two are most certainly Loki's sons, but you are still _very_ _young_. You have done me a favor and I will release your father, once I believe he has served his time for helping Thjazi kidnap Iðunn. Now run along children."

Brynhildr's expression hardened and she felt the frustration ripple through Váli and Nari's auras. No, pity was not a good thing to give those boys. They were children, yes, but they were the immortal heirs of the most powerful mage in the nine realms and Nari could already outclass half of all of Asgard's mages. Odin was just lording over them, as he loved lording over everyone. Yet he wondered why Brynhildr no longer served him.

Brynhildr's wings rustled as the scent of fresh blood reached her, and she felt Váli tense. Nari, mind furiously working to find some way to force Odin to release Loki, didn't notice the presence enter the throne room and sit behind them.

"Really Odin," the intruder spoke in a chiding tone, "aren't you being harsh with them?"

Nari jumped at the voice, feet almost leaving the ground.

"Fenrir!" He practically eeped, recognizing his brother's voice.

Váli glanced over his shoulder, but choked at the sight of Fenrir and Brynhildr felt her dread growing at the thick scent of blood, which Nari had finally noticed.

"Brother, when did you get-" Nari froze in his tracks as he turned, eyes widening at the sight that greeted him, "here."

Fenrir sat on his haunches a meter inside the doorway. The two Æsir warriors that stood on either of the doorway had taken a step back and there were slithering hisses as they drew their swords from their scabbards. The reason they were drawing their swords wasn't because of Fenrir's appearance. It was because of the blood.

Blood plastered the front of Fenrir's chest, down the front of his forelimbs, and on his front paws. He'd left a trail of red pawprints as he had padded inside the throne room. His muzzle was stained and blood was dripping from his fangs.

Váli's nose twitched at the heady metallic scent, and Nari touched his brother's mind curiously. As he suspected, Váli's sense of smell was sharp enough to identify the blood. Váli responded telepathically, though to thought so only Nari could hear him.

 _*That's Æsir blood.*_

Nari had been afraid of that.

"Fenrir," Nari whispered.

"What?" Fenrir asked, lips pulling back in a mockery smile. "Is it about this?"

He licked one of his forepaws and ran it over his ear, though it did little to deter the damp crimson stains.

"They're still alive if that's what you're wondering," Fenrir assured Nari. "They simply made the mistake of attempting to stop me from entering. At least," Fenrir added thoughtfully. "I think they are. How much blood can an Æsir lose?"

He chuckled to himself. Nari subconsciously cringed back. His feud was with Odin, not the soldiers sworn to do as they were ordered.

"Fenrir," Váli growled softly, sensing Nari's distress.

Fenrir flicked his tail, a low rumble of laughter eliciting from his chest, "touchy."

Váli frowned. He liked brother Fenrir. While Loki had taught Váli had to shapeshift, Fenrir had taught him what it was to be a wolf. They'd hunted together in the forest, the normal wolves of Asgard deferring to their leadership as Alpha. There were times he didn't like Fenrir though.

The Æsir soldiers shifted their stances and Fenrir pricked his ears, sensing they were about to attack. He didn't mind. Æsir blood tasted much better than that of rabbits or deer.

Brynhildr narrowed her eyes. Suddenly she wasn't beside Nari and Váli. Fenrir gave an oof as the valkyrie kicked him in the chest, knocking him back, her movements too fast for him to dodge. He went sliding as the Æsir brought their swords down. One was trying to deliver an overhand blow and the other thrusting. Rather than strike Fenrir, they were now going to connect with Brynhildr.

Brynhildr thrust her palms outward and caught both swords, instantly halting their swings. The Æsir jolted as their attacks were stopped. Váli's breath caught and he and Nari exchanged surprised looks. Odin stood from his throne.

Glancing at the Æsir, Brynhildr released the swords after a second and let the Æsir step back. They did so, holding their swords cautiously. There was no blood on them, and the Valkyrie's palms remained uncut. Weapons of the living weren't sharp enough to harm a Guardian of the dead. Her strength when she'd grabbed the blade had actually crushed them, leaving the blades warped, imprints of her fingers on the metal.

Under other circumstances, Váli would have smiled at the Æsir's shock. This was obviously their first time meeting a Valkyrie. Not only had Brynhildr been fast enough to knock Fenrir out of the path of the Æsir's swords before they had struck, she'd had enough time left to stop the strikes. She'd perceived the attack patterns on both sides and planted herself at the nexus of their strikes.

"Enough," Brynhildr ordered the Æsir, grey eyes flashing between the startled warriors. "There has been enough bloodshed as it is."

They stepped back.

"Why you bird-brained," Fenrir grumbled as he pulled his paws under him and stood.

His voice choked in his throat when Brynhildr turned her steely gaze on him and he silenced, snapping his jaws shut. With a huff, he looked away.

"As I was saying before I was interrupted," Fenrir began speaking again, walking around the Valkyrie as he went deeper into the room, a red trail of paw prints following him. "Aren't you being harsh with them? Our father did help you deal with Thjazi. Now that he is dead he will never harm anyone again."

"Thjazi only became a threat because of Loki's alliance with him," Odin repeated, wondering why they couldn't grasp that simple concept. Váli and Nari were just children so the way they looked up to their father was understandable, but he'd expect more from Fenrir. "The ends do not justify the means."

"No matter how things turn out?" Fenrir challenged, licking some of the Æsir blood from his lips with his tongue. "How very narrow-minded of you."

Odin saw him swallow the Æsir blood he had licked off his lips, a chill settling in his bones. He had known for centuries that he would need to do something about Fenrir sooner or later. He simply hadn't imagined it would be sooner.

"He has committed a crime and will remain in his cell for so long as I see fit," Odin declared, sitting back down in his golden throne. "As I am Allfather, my word is law. And I am no oath-breaker."

He gave a steely one-eyed gaze to Nari, who raised his chin rather than looked perturbed. Odin noticed he was close to Váli's side, unnerved by Fenrir's savagery.

"Everyone is dismissed," Odin ordered. "You," he looked at one of the soldiers who had failed to strike Fenrir. "Get a healer for the wounded."

The man hesitated briefly, unwilling to leave Odin alone with Fenrir, before turning and taking off at a run. At a nod from Odin, his companion when to check on the wounded Star Guard and see what he could do to stabilize them.

"You are dismissed," Odin repeated when Loki's children and the traitorous valkyrie remained.

Váli looked up at Brynhildr, and it was only when she nodded that he dragged Nari from the throne room, Nari's gaze having drifted back to Fenrir. Fenrir followed his younger siblings at a sanguine pace.

Nari quivered when he looked ahead and saw the mauled forms of four Asgardian soldiers. They had deep lacerations and chunks of their flesh had been ripped from their forms. One had lost half his hand. Fenrir's attack had been so quick, they hadn't even had a chance to draw their weapons. He put thoughts of his sibling aside and stepped hurried towards the man trying to stabilize his comrades.

"I can probably heal them," Nari murmured to the man softly, sensing they were all still alive, "allow me."

"You?" The man asked, his voice wary.

"Yes," Nari replied, too used to his wariness to be insulted.

Tendrils of green-gold magic wafted around his fingers as he sat near the closest man and raised a palm over the wound, closing his eyes. He wasn't as good as his mother, but Sigyn had taught him well enough. The deep lacerations on the man's chest, wide enough he could have slipped his fingers in without touching flesh, began to knit together. He started at the muscle and worked outward, mending the skin last.

Exhaustion gripped him as he finished healing the wound. He swayed slightly, but Váli was instantly by his side.

"I'm okay," he told his brother. "I'll just have to be more careful."

It would be difficult. Instead of fully healing every soldier, he could only take the edge off their wounds if he didn't want to run out of lifeforce. He would have to spread himself out. Mother had told him about that.

"It'd be much easier on you if you simply let me kill them," Fenrir offered from behind, "put them out of their misery and all that."

Nari looked over his shoulder at his eldest brother and shook his head firmly, "I'm fine, and how could you say that?"

"Why shouldn't I?" Fenrir asked, rolling his massive shoulders in a shrug. "They're the servants of Odin, and I've never liked him. Now that he's an oath-breaker I'm even less inclined to like him."

"He's not-" the warrior began to say, voice trailing off as Fenrir looked at him – really looked at him.

His voice faltered and fell silently. Fenrir nodded in the direction of his younger brothers and then padded outside without another word, tail flicking contently. No one spoke.

"You are an oath-breaker Odin," Brynhildr spoke from within the throne room, her words resonating with strength as they carried outside to where they were. "You relish lording over others because you gave yourself that title of Allfather after the deaths of your older brothers."

"I had nothing to do with Vili and Vé's death," Odin snapped.

"So you continue to say," Brynhildr agreed. "All I know is that before your brothers died you, as the youngest of Borr's sons, were last in line to the throne. Now that they are dead, you are king. I suggest you enjoy your throne Odin. I'll side with the Norns on this one. They have prophesied that Ragnarök will come and I can only hope it does."

Ragnarök? Váli thought, confused. He'd never heard that word before. What _had_ Brynhildr and Odin been talking about? He strained his hearing as Nari, oblivious to the argument, knelt beside another wounded warrior. Rather than arguing, he heard the sound of massive wingbeats and Brynhildr flew through the doorway a second later, somehow managing not to clip her wings on the doorway. She glanced briefly at Loki's youngest children as she flew outside, vanishing into the sky.

Váli refrained looking over his shoulder towards Odin as he moved to stand beside Nari, pressing his hands on a wound his brother was lessening to help halt the bleeding. A large chunk of flesh had been ripped out of the man's side by Fenrir's strong jaws.

Váli didn't remember Fenrir bring so brutal and Odin _was_ breaking his oath no matter technicalities he claimed. And what was Ragnarök? The Norns were three sisters who could see the future, so Ragnarök was likely something that had yet to happen, but that didn't explain what it was. He remembered seeing Tyr train Asgard's troops harder as if preparation for a war that didn't exist. What was happening to the realm eternal?

Váli didn't like it. As Sigyn ran over with a few others he and Nari were ushered back. He realized something as they stepped back. Everything had begun to change when his father had started to favor the human girl Kata and her Berserkers. It had begun with Lief.

* * *

 **For those who do not know, Ragnarök is the nordic version of Armageddon. It literally translates to "twilight of the gods." 90% of the Asgardians die in an epic battle as the demons of Muspelheim and Ice Giants of Jotunnheim, in addition to Hela and the army of the dead, invade Asgard. Among the casualties, according to the legend, are Odin, Thor, and Loki.**


End file.
